Britain beat Pakistan in Azlan Shah

IPOH ( Malaysia): Jonathan Clarke struck twice as Britain defeated Pakistan 3-2 to put their campaign back on track while South Korea and New Zealand played out a 2-2 draw in their Sultan Azlan Shah Cup match on Sunday.

Clarke’s twin strikes gave Britain the much-needed win after the 1-3 loss to India on Friday.

Pakistan and Britain now have two wins each from three matches and lead the standings in the round-robin league.

In another match, joint defending champions South Korea were held to a 1-1 draw by New Zealand. Benjamin Collier scored for New Zealand in the 50th minute and South Korea struck back eight minutes later to equalise through a penalty corner by Jang Jong-Hyun.

In an entertaining contest, Britain took the lead against Pakistan in the eighth minute through Robert Moore as the ball crossed the line despite Waqas Akbar making a desperate attempt to clear it.

Pakistan came close to scoring in the 24th minute but Shakeel Abbasi missed a sitter. They got the equaliser four minutes before half-time as Sohail Abbas sounded the boards with a long drag-flick to goalkeeper Nicholas Brothers.

Clarke put Britain ahead again in the 39th minute even as Pakistan’s Rehan Butt failed to score two minutes later after Adam Dixon brought off a goal-line save.

Pakistan pressed hard for an equaliser but Clarke was again on target in the 63rd minute to make it 3-1 for Britain.

A minute later, Pakistan reduced the margin through Abdul Hassem Khan on a pass from Abbasi, but Britain’s defenders managed to hold their ground to deny them the equalising goal.