The fourth season of the men’s FIH Pro League started with a banger as the match between India and New Zealand has everything.
Team India defeated New Zealand by 4-3 in the opener after coming back from 1-3 down at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
After taking the quick lead in the first quarter, the hosts were soon 1-3 down. However, it was a day of great fightback from the Indian team as they were down 10 men and trailing by 2-3 in the last quarter.
Mandeep stood from the front and his two goals in the last 10 minutes helped Team India to take the glory.
First Quarter: Team India takes an early lead
India has recently developed a habit of starting strongly but soon there is a drop in their energy. However yesterday it was as if we were seeing a different India.
Not only did the hosts take the quick lead of one goal, but their defence was also par excellence. New Zealand did start shakily but they kept on threatening India’s half. However it was a solid defence of the hosts, that kept them away
After a good 13 minutes, of solid defence, a free hit from Nilkanta Sharma helped India to open the account. Nilkanta passed the ball to Mandeep Mor on the right, who beat the Kiwi goalkeeper Dominic Dixon for the opener.
New Zealand takes the lead in the second half
In the third quarter, New Zealand was back into the game as Sam Lane took the advantage of a penalty stroke. Surender Kumar’s foot blocked Lane’s drag-flick and as a result, the umpire had no two thoughts in giving the stroke.
The equalizer boosted the Kiwi team’s confidence and they went more attacking. In the 34th minute, Jake Smith’s goal helped New Zealand to take the lead.
In a minute, Lane’s drag flick hit Surender and it led to the penalty corner again. A powerful hit by Lane resulted in the third goal. The shot was quite low for PR Sreejesh to defend. It wasn’t his day anyway.
Q 4: Mandeep takes a double glory
It was the final quarter and India desperately needed some turnaround. It was Mandeep Singh who raised his hand. He went through New Zealand’s defence and gained a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet converted the chance and made it 2-3.
Team India was trailing by just one goal but soon Sumit got a yellow card for a second offence. Earlier he was shown a green card. This resulted in him being out of the field for ten minutes. Now the hosts had to play with ten players for the rest of the match.
Although senior goalkeeper Sreejesh was having a bad day, his junior Krishna Pathak was having a bit of better luck. New Zealand won several penalty strokes but went able to convert even one, thanks to Patahk’s solid work in front of the net.
Now with ten minutes to go, Shamsher passed the ball to Mandeep Mor with a great shot. Mor flicked it towards to goal post and Mandeep got a light deflection to beat the goalkeeper. It was 3-3 now.
Five minutes later, Nilkanta showed his pressing skills beating the entire midfield and passing it on to Mandeep with him doing the rest of the work. India was back in the lead with 4-3.
New Zealand kept on getting the penalty strokes even till the last moment. However, they were unable to convert even one.
India will be facing Spain in the next match, taking a lot of confidence from this match.
The next Hockey World cup is also in Odisha(from January 19), India and it will be good practice for the hosts.
