Pakistan bounces back to hold India

India squandered a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Pakistan in an ill-tempered match of the double leg tri-nation hockey tournament here on Friday.

Veteran drag-flicker Sohail Abbas struck twice for Pakistan in the 46th and 64th minutes, while captain Shakeel Abbasi scored the equaliser a minute later after India had taken what seemed to be an unassailable 3-0 lead at the breather.

For India, Tushar Khandekar, Danish Mujtaba and Rupinder Pal Singh scored in a match which was stopped one minute and 35 seconds before the end of regulation time due to ugly incidents on the field involving players of both sides.

Despite the stoppage, the drawn result of the thrilling match stand as the teams decided to stop the match after a 30-minute stoppage.

India was clearly the better side in the first half with numerous attacks on the Pakistani citadel.

Immediately after a Danish hit was palmed away by Pakistan goalie Imran Shah, Khandekar put India ahead in the fifth minute. He latched on to a cross from the right and gently tapped an aerial ball into the net.

This fifth-minute goal added venom to the Pakistan attack but the Indian defence, manned by V.R. Raghunath and Manjit and ably assisted by Sardar Singh, withstood the pressure.

Danish then doubled the lead for India before Rupinder, who a minute ago had missed a sitter, came good in the 27th minute to consolidate the lead as Michael Nobbs’s boys went into the lemon break 3-0 ahead.

Pakistan bounced back in style in the second half with veteran Abbasi rising to the occasion to rescue his side with two goals and then captain Abbasi restored parity five minutes from the hooter.

In the closing stages of the match, a hard tackle by an Indian player resulted in a scuffle between the two teams. The incident forced the match to be stopped for about half an hour. Even though the teams returned to the turf later, they agreed not to resume the match.

Tournament Director Girhme Napier said it was a fair decision.

This is the last match of the first leg.