India beat New Zealand 7-4 in FIH Pro League match
India showed a stellar performance by playing aggressive hockey after going down 1-3 to register a 7-4 win over New Zealand in a thrilling FIH Men’s Pro League match here on Friday. The home team had defeated the same opponent 4-3 in the first leg held on 28 October. The team struggled in the first 15 minutes in which they lost three goals but in the next three quarters, the team displayed an aggressive game by scoring two goals.
New Zealand dominated in the first quarter but came under pressure from repeated attacks from India and then could only manage one goal in the next three quarters. Captain Harmanpreet Singh (7th and 19th minute, both penalty corners), Karti Selvam (17th and 38th), Raj Kumar Pal (31st), Sukhjit Singh (50th) and Jugraj Singh (53rd) scored for India. . Simon Child (2nd), Sam Lane (9th), Smith Jake (14th) and Nick Woods (54th) scored for New Zealand.
India got 11 penalty corners during the match out of which three converted into goals. The Indians, playing aggressive hockey, broke into the circle 29 times in comparison to New Zealand’s only 13 times. India’s dominance of the ball was 56 per cent and 12 shots into the opposition’s goal, while the touring team could do so only six times. India will take on Spain in the second leg match on Sunday. India had lost 2-3 to the European team on 30 October.