The Indian men’s hockey team defeated England in a dramatic shoot-out after both sides tied 3-3 in regulation time in the opening match of a double-leg FIH Pro League tie at the Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday. In the shoot-out, the hosts won 3–2 against England to score two points (including a bonus).
Abhishek (14th), Shamsher Singh (27th) and Harmanpreet Singh (52nd) scored for India in regulation time, while England scored with Nicholas Bandurak (8th, 28th) and Sam Ward (60th). . by penalty stroke. In the second match on Sunday, both the teams will face each other once again.
England started the match on a positive note in the eighth minute by taking the lead from a penalty corner from Bandurak. Even though they were not at their best, India equalized six minutes later through Abhishek, who scored with a fierce reverse hit after receiving a pass from Shamsher. India took the lead in the 27th minute with Shamsher’s field strike.
IPL 2022- full coverage , the schedule , Result , orange cape , purple cap , Mark sheet
But India’s joy knew no bounds as a minute later, England equalized once again by converting a penalty corner from the gun. It was a poor first half for both the teams, especially the Indians as they failed to get a single penalty corner against England’s three. England continued to play positive after the change of the end and soon got a penalty corner but experienced India custodian PR Sreejesh put up a decent defense to keep the score level. The Indians were weak with their passes throughout the game, more so in the third quarter. India’s poor performance can be gauged from the fact that it failed to win a single penalty corner in the first three quarters.
The Indians, however, advanced into the final quarter and received back-to-back penalty corners just eight minutes from the final whistle, the second of which was converted by Harmanpreet with a surprise drag-flick to take a 3-2 lead. . But there was more drama as the fragile Indian defense conceded a penalty stroke in just 14 seconds from the final hooter and Ward was bang on target to level the score once again and take the match into a shoot-out.
It was a marathon shoot-out as both the teams faltered, but eventually the Indians held their nerves to come out on top and score two points from the game. With the win, India climbed to the top of the Pro League standings with 18 points from nine matches.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.