Four Nations hockey: India beat New Zealand 3-2

Hamilton [New Zealand], January 24 (ANI): Indian men's hockey team defeated hosts New Zealand 3-2 in their opening match at the second-leg of Four Nations Invitational Tournament here on Wednesday.

It was Lalit Upadhyay (7'), Harjeet Singh (32') and Rupinder Pal Singh (36') who scored in India's win while New Zealand's goals came through Daniel Harris (23') and Kane Russell (37').

A breakthrough for India came soon enough when skipper Manpreet Singh found Vivek Sagar Prasad swiftly moving towards the top of the circle, though Vivek's reverse hit rebounded off the New Zealand keeper, Lalit Upadhyay ensured he picked up the ball to deflect it past Black Sticks goalkeeper Devon Manchester fetching India a 1-0 lead.

The second quarter saw New Zealand fight back, constantly attacking the Indian circle and kept goalkeeper PR Sreejesh busy at the post.

The hosts won their first penalty corner of the match but Kane Russell's drag flick was well-saved by Sreejesh. An error by Indian defender in New Zealand's half saw them lose possession in the following minutes that led to New Zealand's equalizer.

Daniel Harris leveled the score to 1-1.

In the third quarter forward Mandeep Singh was clever in his approach to win India their first PC of the match in the 32nd minute which was successfully converted by Harjeet Singh.

Lalit later won India their second PC in the 36th minute and this time Rupinder Pal Singh was near-perfect as he improvised Ramandeep Singh's injection to find the bottom right of the post.

New Zealand then scored another with help of Russell. (ANI)