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| 02 October 2004 | Saturday | 16 Shaban 1425 |
Rehan and Akhtar rescue Pakistan
LAHORE, Oct 1: Goals from rookie Akhtar Ali and experienced Rehan Butt in last 13 minutes earned Pakistan a draw 4-4 against India to lead the first leg of four match series 2-1 at the National Hockey Stadium (NHS) on Friday.
India had taken a firm 4-2 lead in the 51st minute and they were well on course to square the series 2-2 but Akhtar and Rehan had other ideas and saved the day for Pakistan.
Pakistan won the first match at Karachi 2-1 but lost the second at Quetta 4-1. They regained the lead in Peshawar winning with a close margin 3-2 in the third. India started the match on a fast note.
They got back-to-back penalty-corners in the second and third minutes. On the first one Sandeep Singh's try went over the bar while Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akbar deflected the ball for safety on the second one.
India almost took the lead in the 7th minute when Arjun Halappa made a try from right side and gave a fine pass to Tushar Khandekar, standing near the goalpost. Tushar goal-bound effort was declared dangerous.
Pakistan launched their first notable attack in the 10th minute from right side but striker Kashif Jawad lost control of the ball in the circle. However, Pakistan kept the attacking and earned the first penalty corner in the 14the minute. Sohail Abbas's powerful drag flick found the net beating Indian goalkeeper Adrian D'Souz to put his side ahead.
But the lead proved to be short lived as two minutes later (16th minute) India had restored the parity (1-1). The visitors attacked from the right and Vikram Pillay succeeded in beating home team keeper Salman Akbar.
Pakistan lost a goal scoring opportunity in the 20th minute when Ghazanfar received a fine pass from Zeeshan Maqsood but lost control of the ball with the goal at his mercy.
Rehan, who was declared the best player of the series, could have found the target in the 27th minute but wasted the opportunity shooting wide when ideally placed. After the resumption the Indians took control of the match and deservedly went ahead 2-1 through Sandeep Singh who converted the third penalty corner in the 39th minute.
Pakistan retaliated three minutes later when umpire Rashid Mehmood Butt awarded the home team a penalty corner amid strong protests of the Indian players. Sohail easily slotted the ball home to make the score line 2-2.
Once again the visitors forged ahead in the 49th minute. Arjun Halppa's blasted the ball into the cage leaving Salman completely beaten to make it 3-2. Two minutes later India increased their advantage to 4-2 in the 51st minute, Ignace Tirkey hammered home l from top of the circle to find the net.
Pakistan started recovery operation when Akhtar scored a spectacular goal in the 57th minute to reduce the margin 4-3 before Rehan got the equalizer in the 67th minute on indirect try off a short corner.
Sohail was named as top scorer of the series with a tally of four goals. Indian goalkeeper Adrian was the adjudged the best goalkeeper. Both the teams are leaving for New Delhi to start the second leg of four match series from Oct 4.
TEAMS:
PAKISTAN: Salman Akbar (goalkeeper), Sohail Abbas, Ghazanfar Ali, Shakeel Abbasi, Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Ali, Zeeshan Ashraf, Adnan Maqsood, Kashif Jawad, Rehan Butt, Mudassar Ali Khan, Shabbir Hussain, Waseem Ahmed (captain), Dilawar Hussain.
INDIA: Adrian D'Souz (Goalkeeper), Dilip Tirkey (captain), Sandeep Singh, William Xalxo, Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillay, Ignace Tirkey, Vivek Gupt, Adam Sinclair, Arjun Halappa, Sundeep Michael, Tushar Khandekar, Hari Prasad.
Pakistan 4 India 4
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