M.No.29

DAY 15: Thursday 15.3.2012:

Cheetahs on the prowl as Strykers fumble

On a historic day – the anniversary of India’s lone World Cup win 37 winters ago, Chennai Cheetahs made their own piece of history, swinging back to winning ways in the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey. Displaying a robust defence, clever off the ball running and quick turn-overs, the Cheetahs were strategically ahead of Pune Strykers in almost all the departments as they beat them convincingly 3-1 here at the PCMC ground on Thursday.

With this victory, Chennai Cheetahs have 10 points from three wins and one draw after eight matches while Pune Strykers have 12 points from three wins and three draws after playing the same number of matches.

An opportunistic goal from the speedy striker Adam Sinclair saw the Cheetahs take the lead in the 10th minute when he tapped in from handshaking distance near the left post, to stun Pune goalkeeper Gurvinder Singh. Mark Harris, who was in possession with a short pass at the top of the circle, sent in a powerful hit which zoomed past a couple of defenders and was a bit wide off the left post, but an alert Adam pounced on the ball and tapped it home in a flash.

The Strykers worked hard and had better possession but failed to convert their moves into goals. The frustration allowed the Cheetahs to regroup and they came back against the run of play to increase their tally in the 31st minute with a brilliant field goal. The move was initiated from the right flank by Vikram Pillay, who received a short pass near the spot with the Strykers goalkeeper beaten comprehensively. Vikas Sharma, who had an open goal in front of him, made no mistake in tapping the ball in.

Despite the reverse, the Strykers rallied and managed to pull one back three minutes into the second half when stand-in skipper Roshan Minz punched in a rebound from the top of the circle on the right. Thereafter, they raided the rival citadel with vigour and urgency but the Cheetahs defence was solid as a rock. The Pune side may have dominated the proceedings and had better control but it was Chennai who managed to penetrate one more time to make it 3-1 in the dying minutes of the game. Penalty-corner specialist Syed Imran Warsi, who missed a couple of chances due to the bouncy field, took a step into the circle and executed a perfect flick to seal the issue. The Cheetahs take on Karnataka Lions at Bangalore on March 17 while Strykers travel to Chandigarh to play with Comets on March 19.

M.No.30

DAY 15: Thursday 15.3.2012:

Delhi belly for Bhopal Badshahs

Watching Bhopal Badshahs’ solid goalkeeper Baljit Singh, who has conceded the least number of goals in the tournament, practice his drills before the match convinced one that the Badshahs would continue their fine run against Delhi Wizards, who were struggling before this match. However, the beauty of the Bridgestone World Series Hockey is such that no team can afford to relax as the tournament continues to witness a see-saw battle amongst both the frontrunners and the bottom-rung teams alike. And on Thursday, Delhi Wizards won the match comfortably 3-1 here at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Gasping for survival in the tournament, Delhi Wizards showed urgency in both attack and defence till they finally sealed the match. The last eight minutes of the match saw the hosts play tentatively as they conceded four penalty-corners one after another with one player less on the field. However, their indefatigable defence managed to hold on to their nerves and even launched a counterattack to puncture the Bhopal citadel for the third time in the match.

Wizards struck a brace early and kept the pace throughout the match, and then nailed the last nail in the coffin of Badshahs in the last minute as well. Victo Singh, Shakeel Abbasi and Vikram Kanth scored for the home side while Casey Henwood accounted for the lone reply for the Badshahs.

Victo Singh symbolized the early tune and tenor of the play with exciting run downs on the right flank, and in tandem with new sensation Upendra Pillay. Fittingly, the Manipur marvel struck the first goal. He sent the ball in with a hard diagonal push even as he was falling. Shakeel tried to firm up the goal with a gentle nudge, but the angle was so acute it didn’t need Shakeel’s effort to find its home.

Unstoppable Shakeel extended the lead. Philp Sunkel, at the centre of the circle, was expecting him to send the pass in a quick surge, but the gifted striker looked at him while directly dispatching his forehand on the other side. It was the goal in its deceptive best.

Wily Casey Henwood of New Zealand caught the entire Delhi defence napping in the 21st minute to respond.

Even as the goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh was trying to cover him up close on the right baseline, holding one hand on the right post, Casey nudged the ball so cleverly that it rolled into the cage through a very narrow gap that existed between Kamaldeep and the post. Delhi defence buckled when faced with the first test, though a minute later the same goalie blocked two close rebounds to deny another equalizer for the visitors.

Darryl called a time out timely to spoil the momentum of Bhopal which was acquiring venom in enormous proportion. In the early moments of last quarter, Waseem Ahmed set up two moves but the forwards fumbled much to the agony of Badshah’s bench. Jaswinder, Vikaram Kanth and Vikramjeet came out with their best to keep the cage intact.

Sameer Dad messed up his own move which he created effortlessly in the 60th minute, but delayed his push to strike even after drawing goalie out of the cage, and saw him fall early in a desperate but harried attempt to block him. Badshahs did not exactly cover themselves in glory when they missed out four successive penalty corners midway through the fourth quarter.