The Tribune: India give Aussies escape route

Drag-flicker Raghunath scores a brace but India concede late goal to settle for draw

Rajnandgaon (Chattisgarh), November 19

Drag-flicker VR Raghunath scored a brace but India conceded a late goal to settle for a 2-2 draw with world champions Australia in their first hockey Test of the three-match series here today.

The series has been organised keeping in mind the Hockey World League Final to be held in Raipur from November 27 to December 6. Today’s match was Chhattisgarh’s first-ever international hockey match.

Australia drew the first blood through a field goal from Dylan Wotherspoon in the ninth minute.

Stunned by the early goal in front of a packed stadium, India showed more purpose and pressed harder for the equaliser. India’s efforts bore fruit soon when they were awarded a penalty corner and Raghunath made no mistake in firing the ball into the back of the Australian net in the 28th minute to level the scores.

After the change of ends, the Indians kept up the pressure on the Australians, which resulted in another goal from Raghunath through a penalty corner in the 43rd minute. The goal rattled Australia but, known for their fighting spirit, the world champs launched an all out attack in search of the equaliser.

The Indian defence stood tall amid a series of Australian attacks but succumbed under pressure in the final two minutes of the game. They conceded a penalty corner, which was duly converted by Chris Ciriello to make it 2-2.
“It was an important match, and we were tested on all fronts. The good news is that we showed composure and played with the hunger to win. We will go back to reconstruct our strategy for the next match and hopefully we should see the results favouring us,” said India coach Roelant Oltmans.

The remaining matches will be played on November 22 and 23 at the recently inaugurated Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Hockey Stadium in Raipur, which will host the HWL Final. — PTI