The inimitable Pardeep Narwal was on fire as the U.P Yoddhas put in a superb show, defeating U Mumba by 38-28 on Friday at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here on Friday. While Narwal was the star of the night for the Yoddhas with 13 points, Rohit Tomar (8 points) and Sumit (4 points) provided ample support, helping them register a crucial win.
After a slow couple of minutes to start with, it was U Mumba who were out of the blocks quickest with Guman Singh's raids getting things going. Pardeep Narwal and the U.P Yoddhas followed suit soon enough as the crowd made their presence felt from the get-go.
Giving Pardeep a hand was Rohit Tomar and Sandeep Narwal, as U.P Yoddhas pulled level on the 9-minute mark in the game. As the first half progressed, both sides continued to trade blows and points regularly, before the U.P Yoddhas' Pardeep landed a Super Raid, helping his side get their noses out in front.
Nitesh Kumar led the next tackle, making it an All-Out as the U.P Yoddhas stretched their lead. Soon enough, the momentum was with Pardeep Narwal and co, as the players went into a breather with the U.P Yoddhas leading 19-14.
Guman had Surinder Singh and Heidarali Ekrami giving him solid support, chipping away at U.P Yoddhas' lead early in the second half, even as Pardeep inched closer to another Super 10. With just over ten minutes to go, U Mumba's determination meant the contest was on a knife edge, as the scores read 22-20 in UP Yoddhas' favour.
The U Mumba side were putting pressure on their opponents before a superb tackle by Sumit on Guman helped U.P Yoddhas get some breathing space. Time wasn't on U Mumba's side, who had their task cut out in the final minutes, especially with Pardeep Narwal clinching a few crucial raid points.
With 4 minutes to go, the U.P Yoddhas had a 10-point lead. U Mumba threw the kitchen sink at U.P Yoddhas in the final moments, but Pardeep Narwal and co were having none of it, as they eventually ran out comfortable winners on the night.