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| March 15, 2002 | Friday | Zilhaj 30, 1422 |
Wasif spares Sindh ‘A’ blushes
KARACHI, March 14: Wasif Raza’s first half equaliser spared Sindh ‘A’s blushes who held Punjab ‘B’ to a 2-2 draw in the 49th HBL national hockey championship inter-provincial preliminary round Thursday.
Punjab opened up a cracking first half with impressive hockey sounding a stern warning for the hosts who had to sweat throughout to save the game at the Hockey Club of Pakistan’s dilapidated turf that saw several players suffering injuries.
Mohammad Azam, who received his second yellow card of the tournament in the 45th minute and will be missing the game against NWFP ‘A’ Saturday, gave Sindh an early shock with 9th-minute goal when he scored off penalty corner on a rebound.
The local side woke up to level the scores off an 11th-minute short corner when Ishtiaq Ahmad slammed home a rasping angular shot.
Unimpressed by the equaliser and breathing down Sindh’s neck, Punjab once again threatened the home side and went ahead via a 20th-minute Yasir Khursheed goal.
Sindh, who seemed to be a disjointed lot throughout, were eventually rescued by the hero of the day, Wasif, in the 27th minute.
The 28th minute saw a flare-up when Sindh’s Ishtiaq Mobeen deliberately struck Punjab’s Imtiaz Ahmad on the shoulder.
The game restarted after being suspended for four minutes after umpire Mohsin Ali Khan gave Ishtiaq and Punjab’s Sheeraz Khursheed marching orders for being involved in a scuffle.
Although the second half did not produce goals despite action at both ends, number of umpiring bloopers and violations of rules were the main feature of the second period.
Quite a few players from both the sides were seen in white snickers and numberless shorts, while unauthorised people sitting on Punjab’s bench did not attract the umpires’ attention.
Both umpires, Mohsin and Iftikhar Hussain, denied a penalty corner each to the Punjab and Sindh which they truly deserved in the 43rd and 69th minutes.
In another tie, NWFP ‘A’, aided by hat trick by Fazli Rabbi, handed a crushing 10-3 defeat to hapless Islamabad.
Fazli’s 2nd and 4th-minute goals opened NWFP’s account, while Mohammad Altaf added third four minutes later.
NWFP’s 10th-minute goal from Haroon Rashid was followed by two Fazli goals on 29 and 34 minutes. Fazli completed his treble 11 minutes after the restart.
Islamabad’s Ayaz Khan had his name on scoresheet in the 47th minute. Fazli (48th minute), and Altaf (50th minute) made it 9-1 before Islamabad reduced the margin through Zahid Bhatti (51st minute).
NWFP’s Humayun completed the rout with a 58th-minute goal, Islamabad got their last in the dying moments with Zahid on target.
Friday’s fixtures:
Sindh ‘B’ v Balochistan ‘A’ at 9.00am; Punjab ‘A’ v NWFP ‘B’ at 2.30pm; Sindh ‘A’ v Balochistan ‘B’ at 4.00pm.
Sindh ‘A’ 2 Punjab ‘B’ 2
NWFP ‘A’ 10 Islamabad 3
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