Kabaddi
PKL 2021: Play of the Day 1 – Abhishek Singh's Super Raid sinks Bengaluru Bulls
U Mumba vice-captain Abhishek Singh's super raid just ahead of halftime is The Bridge's Play of the Day 1.
U Mumba's Abhishek Singh crosses to his side of the court after a raid
The first match of the PKL 2021 was completely lopsided. The Iranian Fazel Atrachali-led U Mumba cruised past Pawan Sehrawat's Bengaluru Bulls with a scoreline of 46-30.
A huge 16 point margin in the defeat meant that the Bulls were the only team out of the six in action on the first day who failed to open their account in the points table. But, the contest was not completely one-sided all along.
In fact, the Bengaluru Bulls made a stunning comeback in the latter part of the first half after they were already wiped out once within the first eight minutes. They trailed only by two points at 16-18 and had U Mumba down to just one man.
Both, the all-out and the lead were theirs for the taking just ahead of halftime. But, they managed to mess up. Or to put it mildly, they were denied by a moment of brilliance by Abhishek Singh, Mumba's vice-captain and star raider.
Standing alone on the court staring at an all-out, Singh went in to raid. The Bulls defence was happy to give him a bonus. Why would they not be? A bonus is nothing in front of the opportunity to inflict an all out.
But, the Bengaluru defence blundered. Having not earned a lot of points up until then in the match, they were eager to get one in the bag. This led to an untimely tackle on Singh, who literally flew over the defenders – touched three of them and returned back to his side of the court.
Bonus plus 3 points ruled the umpire and Abhishek Singh not only revived three of his teammates and extended U Mumba's lead, but he also left the Bulls on verge of an all-out.
Riding on this stunning momentum shift from Singh, U Mumba went into halftime with a massive 24-17 lead and never looked back.
They inflicted a second all-out on the Bengaluru Bulls right at the start of the first half and eventually clinched the match 46-30. Abhishek Singh shone brightly on the night, pocketing a whopping 19 raid points to ensure a sensational start to his side's campaign.
