Delhi clinch another high-scoring thriller

By Arnab Lall Seal, TNN

RANCHI: On a freezing night when most of the Ranchi-ites stayed home, those who braved the chill witnessed one of the best matches in the Hockey India League so far at the Astroturf Hockey Stadium on Wednesday. With the local fans shouting their lungs out, the home team Rhinos played out a nine-goal thriller against Delhi Waveriders, stumbling only towards the end to go down 4-5.

This is Delhi’s second straight victory in a high-scoring game. They had beaten Mumbai Magicians 6-4 in Mumbai on Monday.

Akashdeep Singh opened the scoring for Delhi in the 6th minute but Ranchi’s South African player Justin Ross made it 1-1 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. In the third quarter, Ashley Jackson made it 2-1 for the Rhinos after scoring from the spot. However, Rhinos failed to keep the lead as Delhi’s drag flick expert Rupinder Pal Singh converted a penalty corner to make it 2-2. Gurvinder Chandi then made it 3-2 for Delhi with a beautiful flick past Francisco Cortes. Delhi then surged ahead as Rupinder found the board again (4-2).

The Rhinos fought back with the crowd roaring its approval and scored through Mandeep Singh whose blinder from the edge of the circle made it 3-4 for the hosts. Four minutes later, the stadium was filled with the deafening noise of fireworks as Mandeep equalized for the Rhinos, successfully converting a penalty stroke (4-4).

To the crowd’s dismay, Delhi took the lead again after Tim Jenkins scored from a rebound after Rupinder’s shot from the penalty corner was blocked by Cortes and that was the way it stayed. The match began on a fast pace and it was Delhi who made the first move into the Rhinos’ area but good defending by Amit Rohidas & Co kept the hosts alive.