KARACHI, Sept 14: A late charge by Sindh Qalandars put them in contention for a place in the final of Super Hockey League after a 3-0 thrashing to lacklustre Shan-e-Punjab on Wednesday. While Qalandars are now in a comfortable position with nine points, Northern Cavaliers and Baloch Lions will be battling on Thursday in a crunch match at Hockey Club of Pakistan.

Lions have six points, while Cavaliers are in a stronger position with nine points, but Capital Dynamos, the dark horse of the league, are too in contention with six points with a match against Frontier Falcons, keeping the field wide open.

Shan-e-Punjab, one of the formidable sides and favourites to win the title, looked stale and shaky against Qalandars, although the opposition was not as impressive as final the scoreline suggested, especially in the first and second quarters.

After being brought down to earth by minnows Dynamos on Tuesday with a 7-4 thrashing, Shan-e-Punjab must have been demoralised while they sorely missed their penalty corner striker Indian Sandeep Sindh who was running fever.

Qalandars, who forced no less than 11 short corners but converted just one, started with their first penalty corner in the second minute of the game, only to see a Dilip Tirkey effort being saved by lanky Shan-e-Punjab goalkeeper Salman Akbar, who made no fewer than five saves.

Salman was again in action when he thwarted another attempt on a penalty corner by Tirkey in the eighth minute. Tirkey once again had to return frustrated after Salman produced a brilliant save three minutes later.

Qalandars should have gone ahead but were guilty of squandering a golden chance in the 12th minute when Gohar Rasool shot the ball over Salman and the bar on a penalty stroke.

While it was only Salman who bore the brunt of Qalandars attack that mostly came off short corners apart from third and fourth quarter field efforts, Shan-e-Punjab forward-line was a disjointed lot and lacked coordination, offering virtually no challenge to goalkeeper Ahmad Alam and his defenders.

On the other end, Qalandars again missed a promising opening, Mohammad Zubair wasting the chance in the 22nd minute despite having all the time and space as Shan-e-Punjab defence was beaten.

While Salman had to work overtime, after facing much challenge in earlier matches, Qalandars goalkeeper Ahmad must have heaved a sigh of relief as Shan-e-Punjab strikers lacked firepower which was evident when Malik Shafqat hit keeper’s pad despite being at close range in the 52nd minute.

After struggling for full two quarters, Qalandars eventually grabbed their first goal when Shabbir Hussain netted from a tight angle on the 10th penalty corner completed after the whistle for the end of third quarter.

Qalandars could have doubled the lead in the 59th minute had Salman not thwarted an Ishtiaq Mobeen attempt. Ishtiaq was, however, unstoppable when he slotted home the second in the 62nd minute after fed by Adnan Zakir.

Tirkey once again returned dejected after Salman produced a fine save on the 11th short corner two minutes before fulltime.

Qalandars knocked the heart out of Shan-e-Punjab when Zubair capitalised on slack defence to complete the tally, slotting home the killer third goal seconds before final whistle.

Thursday’s fixtures: