Sonu Jaglan was Gujarat Giants’ hero yet again as he powered the Giants to an incredible 39-37 triumph over U Mumba in the Pro Kabaddi League at the EKA Arena on Tuesday. The fact that this was Fazel Atrachali’s 100th game as captain made the win all the more special for the Giants.
The teams traded the lead in the opening few minutes and a two-point raid from Guman Singh saw U Mumba take a 7-5 lead in the fifth minute. The Giants then brought in their trump card, Sonu Jaglan, in the seventh minute but he failed to get going initially.
Rakesh HS came to the Giants’ rescue when he grabbed a bonus point and a running hand touch on Rinku Singh to give his team a slender lead at 10-9.
However, a super tackle from Mahender Singh saw U Mumba take a 12-10 lead around the 11th minute. Their lead swelled to six points soon after as Sonu was tackled in a do-or-die raid and Guman escaped with yet another raid point.
It appeared that U Mumba would ease into the second half, but with five minutes left, Fazel produced two moments of magic. First, he went on a raid and got the better of his rival captain Surinder Singh and then followed it up with a super tackle to bring the Giants back into the game at 16-18.
Sonu’s first raid point, early in the second half, saw the Giants draw level. There was no stopping him thereon as he picked up two huge points - Rinku Singh and Mahender - to reduce U Mumba to just one man on the mat.
The inevitable occurred the very next raid as U Mumba were at the receiving end of an all out and the Giants took a 23-19 lead. Some brilliant raiding from Sonu, backed by a rock-solid defence saw the Giants soar to a 30-22 lead at the 30-minute mark.
Guman scored off three successive attempts and a few lightning-quick raids from Iranian all-rounder Amirmohammad Zafardanesh and Pranay Rane brought U Mumba within sniffing distance at 30-34. Zafardanesh did the unthinkable with less than two minutes left on the clock as he got past Fazel and Manuj to inflict an all out and bring his side back on level terms.
But it was Sonu who had the last laugh as he produced a three-point super raid in the final minute of the game to bring up his third super 10 on the trot and steer the Giants to their third successive win.