Birmingham, Aug 1: India squandered a three-goal advantage and were held to a 4-4 draw by hosts England in their second Pool B match at the Commonwealth Games men’s hockey here on Monday.
The Indians started brilliantly and dominated the first two quarters to enjoy a comfortable 3-0 lead at half time.
But the Englishmen came out hard in the final two quarters to stun the Indians.
England were also helped by three cards to India’s Varun Kumar twice, one for five minutes in the first half and then again 10 minutes in the second half, besides a 10-minute suspension for Gurjant Singh in the final quarter for dangerous play.
The Indians scored through Lalit Upadhayay (3rd minute), Mandeep Singh (13th and 22nd) and Harmanpreet Singh (46th) from a penalty corner.
England produced a valiant fightback in the second half and scored through Liam Ansell (42nd), Nick Bandurak (47th, 53rd) and Phil Roper (53rd).
Both India and England have faced each other four times in CWG history, winning two matches each.
In their last meeting, England came out on top in the bronze medal match at Gold Coast 2018, winning 2-1.
Desperate to avenge that loss, the Indians came out attacking and dominated England in all aspects of the game and lead the game for majority of the time.
However, towards the end of the game, England mounted the pressure and staged a comeback to draw the game 4-4.
The Indias will next play Canada on Wednesday. (PTI)
