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FULL TIME! And time runs out in the end, as India keeppressurising the Pakistan area. The Indians have earned a big 3-1 victory over their arch rivals with a 3-1 victory, but the result is inconsequential in the end, as Pakistan have also made it to the Super 4 stage of the tournament. India, meanwhile, have produced a dominant display of hockey in the Group Stage, and will look to continue that good form, as they go into the next round, where yet another clash between these two Asian giants and arch-rivals is set to take place. That's all from us, here, tonight, but stay tuned to Sportskeeda for more news and updates from around the world of sports.
Penalty Corner! Harmanpreet fluffs his drag-flick as Pak launch a counter, but he immediately goes upstairs, looking for another PC. Perhaps it hit a Pakistan foot. Again, the decision goes against them, and they lose their referral.
Penalty Corner! Harmanpreet pulls the trigger again, and is deflected by a Pak foot, while the shot off the deflection was also blocked. India go upstairs, looking for a Penalty stroke. But there is not enough evidence. However, India keep their referral, as gave no advice.
Chance! Atik moves swiftly on the counter and enters the circle, with just one Indian defender tailing him, and keeper Chikte in front of him. However, Chikte gets down and saves his shot well, before the Indian defenders scramble to clear the ball.
Penalty Corner! Irfan drag-flicks, and Chikte saved a deflection, but Pakistan go for the review immediately, citing a possible stick-check from Manpreet. the Video umpire did not find any stick check in replay, and Pakistan have to make do with just a long corner. They lost their review.
Chance! That goal has given Pakistan a lot of momentum. A number of shots were struck in that melee, but keeper Akash Chikte saved well. In the end Pakistan get a PC.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! Sardar loses the ball, and it is immediately played out to Ali Shan, who entered the circle at speed from the left, and slotted it into goal. India 3-1 Pakistan!
And with that, we come to the end of the 3rd Quarter of today's play. India have driven home their advantage, here. Interestingly, they could not break Pakistan when the latter were down to 9 men. However, with the numeric parity restored, the Indians have gotten two quick goals to take a decisive lead.
Penalty Corner! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!! Harmanpreet smashes the ball just inside the right hand side post, to make it three! What a brilliant drag-flick by the captain. That was just a cat's whisker inside the post. 3-0 India!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! Ramandeep Singh taps it in, to double India's advantage. Manpreet played a brilliant long ball to the far post from the right wing. Ramandeep, running in a t full tilt, towards the far post, slides in, and touches it into the goal. 2-0 India!
Chance! India break brilliantly, as Sunil breaks through midfield. He passes it through to Gurjant, who plays it in to Akashdeep. Akashdeep, who was arked by two defenders in the circle, played it back to Gurjant in space, but his shot was too weak, as the keeper parries it away.
Half Time! And with that, we come to the end of the first half of this epic encounter. India have mostly dominated the proceedings so far, but Pakistan have also had their chances. They have looked dangerous on the attack after Chinglensana scored the first and only goal so far, but India keeper Karkera made a tremendous save to keep the Indians in the lead.
Chance! Atiq is played into the box, and is thorugh on goal, as he shoots towards the far post, but India keeper Karkera rushes out and makes a brilliant save.
Chance! However, that has left large spaces in their back line, and Ramandeep exploited it perfectly on the counter, as he played Akashdeep through into the opposition circle. However, the striker was in too tight an angle, as he fizzed his shot past the far post.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chinglensana blasts India into the lead. Ramandeep squared a layoff fromt he left flank, to the centre, just outside the Pak Circle. The midfielder took one touch, and pulled the trigger, to slot it into the near post, to open India's account. 1-0 India!
Penalty Corner: The drag from Pakistan missed everybody, and India immediately break into the counter attack. However, that attack soon came to an end, with Varun Kumar being fouled via a stick touch just outside the Pakistan circle.
Ramandeep receives a cutback inside the circle, but it is cleared and Pakistan break into attack immediately. Ali Shan weaves his way into the circle from the left flank, and earnes a PC.
Sunil, and Akshdeep try to generate a counterattack for India, but they played the ball out too wide again, and the attack fizzed out. Credit to Pakistan, as they got the defensive numbers, and foiled the dangerous-looking attack.
Manpreet fizzes a defence-splitting pass into the Pakistan circle, from a deep position on the left flank. Akashdeep was lurking inside the circle, but it was just outside his reach, and he could not get a deflection.
The teams are out on the pitch and raring to go, as the national anthems rig out in the Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which was formerly known as East Pakistan. Lots of history at play, here.
One of the biggest rivalries in sports is set to take off, as India go face to face against arch rivals Pakistan in the last Group A encounter of the Hockey Asia Cup 2017, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sunday.
Relations between the two countries have not exactly been on the brighter side of things, and tensions have escalated in the last few years. These political tensions often tend to boil over onto the pitch, although hockey connoisseurs would hope for a hard-fought battle on the pitch only.
India have already qualified for the second round, having beaten Japan 5-1 and Bangladesh 7-0. Although they merely need a draw to secure top spot in the group, India will be looking for a win over their arch-rivals, not just for the goal advantage, but also for bragging rights.
Pakistan may not have mathematically qualified yet, but even if they lose at the hands of India, Japan can only manage to level with the Pakistanis if they win their game against Bangladesh. To add to that, Pakistan have an 11 goal advantage over Japan, when it comes to goal difference. Hence nothing short of a miracle from Japan’s side will be required, if Pakistan are to be knocked out of the group stage.
Squads:
India:
Akash Chikte (goal keeper), Suraj Karkera (goal keeper), Dipsan Tirkey, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, SK Uthappa, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Chinglensana Singh, Sumit, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh, Satbir Singh.
Pakistan:
Mazhar Abbas (goal keeper), Amjad Ali (goal keeper), Muhammad Irfan (captain), Atif Mushtaq, Mubashar Ali, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Abu Bakar Mahmood, Tasawwar Abbas, Rashid Mahmood, Rizwan Jr, Arslan Qadir, Azfar Yaqoob, Umar Bhutta, Rizwan Sr, Ali Shan, Muhammad Atiq, Waqas Akbar and Ajaz Ahmad.
