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| February 23, 2006 | Thursday | Muharram 24, 1427 |
Pakistan clinch series despite held to a draw
LAHORE, Feb 22: Pakistan won the six-match hockey series when they gained an unassailable 3-0 lead against India after a 1-1 draw in the fourth game at National Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.
The Pakistani strikers were exposed as they missed nearly a dozen sitters as Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi and Shabbir Hussain were off-colour, while centre-half Mohammad Saqlain and Mudassir Khan were unimpressive.
Pakistan started with an attack in the fourth minute but Shakeel’s attempt went over the bar. India retaliated the next minute, Rajpal Singh attempting from close range only to be denied by Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akbar.
A move involving Shabbir and Shakeel saw latter missing the target. Pakistan finally broke the ice when Mohammad Imran converted a penalty corner off a defender stick in the 15th minute.
Saqlain failed to double the lead after a long pass as Indian goalkeeper Bharat Kumar was alert. India came near scoring in the 22nd minute but could not extend the lead as Shivendee Singh’s forceful hit was deflected by Imran Khan on the goal-line.
Both sides were on attack but missed chances as India’s Rajpal Singh failed to connect an angular pass, while Pakistan’s Mohammad Zubair wasted a sitter in the dying moments of the first half.
India earned their solitary penalty-corner in the 38th minute only to squander the opportunity.
Pakistan could have gone further ahead had Shabbir not missed three chances in a row in the 41st minute. Shabbir failed to connect the ball before missing another opportunity with a reckless hit and then failed to connect a Rehan pass.
Rehan, who was marked in the first session, made some inroads after re-start. He could have found the cage in the 48th minute but was denied by Kumar. Tariq Aziz, who was in a perfect position to score, failed to connect a Rehan cross.
Tariq and Rehan made another move in the 56th minute but missed the chance after a goalmouth melee. Shakeel, who initiated a move along with Rehan from the centre-line, failed to beat Kumar three minutes later.
Efforts by the Indians to restore parity paid dividend in the 63rd minute when Tejbir received the ball outside circle and slammed home with an angular hit past Salman.
The arch-rivals will play fifth game at Faisalabad Hockey Stadium on Friday. The final match will be played at Army Stadium, Rawalpindi on Sunday.
PAKISTAN: Salman Akbar (goalkeeper), Zeeshan Ashraf, Mohammad Imran, Imran Khan, Mohamad Saqlain, Dilawar Hussain, Rehan Butt, Mudassir Khan, Shakeel Abbasi, Tariq Aziz, Shabbir Hussain, Shabbir Khan, Adnan Zakir.
INDIA: Bharat Kumar (goalkeeper), Kanwelpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, V.S Vinaya, Vikram Pillay, Ignace Tirkey (captain), Parbodh Tirkey, Rajpal Singh, Didar Singh, Arjun Halappa.
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