KARACHI, March 15: Sindh ‘B’ came back from 1-0 deficit to sweep aside Balochistan ‘A’ 4-2 in the 49th HBL national hockey championship inter-provincial preliminary round Friday.

After remaining goalless for 33 minutes, Balochistan broke the stalemate with a goal from Danish Ajmal. The home side grabbed the 42nd-minute equaliser when skipper Rizwan Khan scored off an indirect drill.

Sindh went 3-1 ahead with Mudassir Abbas scoring off a short corner in 48th minute and Imran Khan slamming a field goal in the 56th minute.

Still trailing, Balochistan once again came near with a Shahzad goal in the 60th minute.

The local side was reduced to nine players when yellow cards were shown to Imran Khan and Shabbir Hussain in the 64th minute, while Balochistan’s Aurangzaib was also given marching orders.

Although Sindh had nine players in the field, Balochistan could not bare the pressure of having one player less and conceded another in the 68th minute when Janzaib Khan found the cage.

NWFP ‘B’ scored a deserved 3-1 victory over Punjab ‘A’ starting with a 32nd-minute penalty corner conversion by Asif Islam.

Earlier, in the 28th minute, the match remained suspended for at least four minutes when NWFP goalkeeper Afsar Ali refused to leave the field after receiving his second green card.

Afsar’s teammates also stood by him and remained at the sidelines. The ‘keeper eventually left after the intervention of officials.

The second half full of rough tackles started with a goal from Ilyas in the 43rd minute.

Three more yellow cards were shown in the 44th minute when Punjab’s Irshad Ahmad deliberately hit NWFP’s Zeeshan Ali. This time Irshad, NWFP’s Mukhtar Shah and Asif Islam were sent to the bench for involving in a brawl.

Albeit Punjab’s Ghulam Ghous scored an spectacular goal in the 56th minute, it proved a consolation. Asif, who returned to the field, rattled the post before scoring off a rebound in the 59th minute.

In a high-scoring but in a one-sided affair, Sindh ‘A’ registered a convincing 7-1 triumph over Balochistan ‘B’.

Sindh’s Ishtiaq Mobeen displayed aggressive hockey netting four times but was unlucky to miss his hat trick. He started with a 6th and 15th-minute goals but his treble was ruined when Mansoor Sheikh found the cage in the 21st minute.

Balochistan got their first ten minutes before the interval with Mazhar scoring off an indirect effort.

But the real hammering for Balochistan came in the second period which saw Sindh slamming home four more.

A 38th-minute raid by Wasif Raza was followed by two more close range goals from Ishtiaq (44th, 62nd minutes). Wasif finished off the job in the 65th minute when he found the net from just inside the circle.

APP ADDS: