Mumbai: Hardik Singh dribbled swiftly on the left flank. He passed the ball into the circle where Abhishek collected it close to the backline. A quick and smart dribble later, he played a low cross across England’s goal.
It was a strike that put India 2-1 up against England in their second Pool D match of the FIH World Cup at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands on Monday. Dilpreet Singh, known for scoring great, if not always spectacular, goals for India was well positioned at the back post. Unmarked, he tapped the ball in to score the easiest goal he could have ever imagined. This was India’s fifth goal in the tournament, but the first field goal. It suggested the team could score from open play rather than always rely on the drag-flicking prowess of captain Harmanpreet Singh from penalty corners to bail them out of trouble.
However, against the world No.3 side dressed in light blue on Monday, Dilpreet’s goal was one of the few positives for India, as a relentless England team went on to win 4-2. This was the first time since 2014 that the two teams played a match decided by a difference of more than one goal. A long lob forward was smartly controlled near the 23-yard line by Stuart Rushmere, who was given time for two more touches before passing it forward to Nicholas Bandurak.
And it came on the back of a disappointing defensive performance from the Indians. England’s first goal itself gave a glimpse of the frailties in the Indian backline. Unmarked and with plenty of space inside the Indian circle, he cleverly chipped the ball over the rushing goalkeeper HS Mohith to give England the lead in the 14th minute. Harmanpreet then scored his third goal of the tournament, a sizzling effort from a penalty corner to bring India level at the start of the second quarter (17th min), with Dilpreet putting India in the lead (25th) which they held on to going into halftime.
