India beat FIH Pro League table-toppers Great Britain 4-2 on penalties in a high-scoring encounter where Sam Ward scored four goals and kept the hosts in the hunt. With a thrilling win over Great Britain, India retained their second position on the points table with six wins from 12 games.
Early in the game, Krishan Pathak denied England the first goal two times in six minutes. Harmanpreet opened the scoring for India with a drag flick that kept low and beat the keeper. In the very next minute, Great Britain came up with an equaliser. England’s Ward scored off a penalty corner. England continued to attack at a frantic pace. Ward had another opportunity to score but couldn’t. In the 15th minute, England earned another penalty corner but could not score.
Four minutes into the second quarter, Hardik Singh's precision pass found Mandeep Singh who hammered it past the British goalkeeper. Great Britain two penalty corners on the trot but could not find the equaliser. A minute later, Hardik fired a pass from the right flank after beating his marker. Sukhjeet Singh's tomahawk was too fast for the goalkeeper as India extended their lead before the second half.
In the 40th minute, Great Britain earned another penalty corner. Pathak was able to touch the ball but Ward's drag flick could not be stopped. The goal led to Great Britain launching an all out attack but they could not score despite a flurry of penalty corners.
Early in the third quarter, India won a penalty corner but Harmanpreet's drag flick was stopped. In the 47th minute Ward scored again as he took the defenders by surprise. Three minutes later, Abhishek scored on the counter attack. Ward continued his purple patch and scored his fourth goal of the day. After the equalizer, no goals were scored and the game headed into penalties.
In the penalty shootout, Pathak denied one shot whereas Shipperly went off target. For India Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet, Lalit Upadhyay and Abhishek scored to beat Great Britain 4-2.
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