But just when it looked like U Mumba would pull away, Naveen Kumar stepped up in the 15th minute with two crucial raid points, cutting the deficit to 23-26. Ajit Chouhan soon completed his Super 10, helping U Mumba push ahead once again at 31-25 early in the final quarter.But the Steelers weren’t done. Naveen continued to lead their charge, reducing the gap to 27-31 in the 7th minute of the half. Then came the game-changing moment; in the final three minutes, Naveen Kumar produced a stunning raid, inflicting an ALL OUT to put Haryana Steelers ahead for the first time in the match.With the scores tied at 34-34 after U Mumba managed a bonus point, the drama only intensified. Shivam Patare gave the Steelers the lead again with a successful raid, but Ajit Chouhan quickly struck back to level things up. Naveen then faltered in a crucial raid, handing the advantage back to U Mumba. In the dying seconds, Ajit Chouhan went in for a Do-or-Die raid but was caught, allowing Haryana Steelers to snatch a point and force a 36-36 tie, sending the contest into a tie-breaker.
This was U Mumba’s second tie-breaker of the season, but it was Haryana Steelers who struck first. The tie-breaker was a rollercoaster, with both teams trading blows in quick succession. U Mumba struck first through Sunil Kumar and Sandeep, while Ajit Chouhan added to his tally with yet another raid. The Steelers, however, responded with resilience – Jaya Soorya and Vinay chipped in with crucial points before Shivam Patare produced the moment of the contest, a stunning Super Raid that wiped out Rohit Raghav, Sandeep and Rinku in one go.
That decisive strike swung the momentum firmly in Haryana’s favour, and despite Mumba’s attempts to claw back, the Steelers held their nerve to edge ahead in the final exchanges and clinch a thrilling tie-breaker victory.
