India fought bravely before succumbing 2-3 againstPakistan in the third hockey Test between the arch-rivals at Peshawar today.
Trailing by two goals into the second half, India didwell to bounce back with goals in the 48th and 60th minute through Hari Prasadand Arjun Halappa respectively. But a Sohail Abbas strike just three minutesbefore the close did them in.
Pakistan, who won the first Test at Karachi beforelosing in Quetta, now lead the series 2-1 with the fourth and final match of thePakistan leg of the series being scheduled at Lahore on Friday.
After a dismal performance in Quetta, Pakistan pulledtheir socks up to emerge victorious here after Mudassar Ali Khan (15th) andShakeel Abbasi (25th) gave them a fine start.
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India, who struggled for ball possession in the first half, looked a completelydifferent side after the break as they made a number of attacks on theopposition post.
Besides the two goals, which were the outcome of somebeautifully executed moves by the young forwards, the side was unlucky formissing out on a number of occasions.
They failed to score even once from the four penaltycorners they got against their formidable rivals.
On one occasion, Adam Sinclair, following a wonderfulmove by Vikram Pillay and Sandeep Michael, hit the ball between the legs ofgoalkeeper Salman Haider only to see it coming back to play after hitting thepost.
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Earlier, India had a fine start as they earned apenalty corner quite early but failed to capitalise on it, thus losing a greatopportunity to take the lead.
That was all the Indians could do in the earlier partof the match as their opponents slowly and steadily took control of theproceedings.
Pakistan played a much better game with their forwardsmaking several dangerous moves.
Their hard work almost paid off when they earned thefirst penalty corner in the 10th minute. The fans cheered for Abbas when thepenalty corner expert got ready to take the shot, but Dilawar Hussain erred instopping the Rehan Butt push properly denying the ace drag flicker a chance toget closer to highest goal scorer Paul Litjen's 268-goal mark.
The next three minutes saw the home side coming close to scoring on twooccasions but some poor finishing by the forwards prevented them from findingthe target.
In the 15th minute, Pakistan took the lead afterMudassar scored an opportunistic goal.
After getting a pass from a counter move, Mudassarrolled the ball inside the circle before hitting a rasping shot that caughtgoalkeeper Adrian D'Souza off-guard.
D'Souza, who was impressive in the first two matches,failed to make proper judgement as the hit went through his legs much to thedelight of the home supporters, who had thronged the stadium in large numbers.
Ten minutes later, Abbasi made the scoreline 2-0 withyet another field goal that gave the home side a stranglehold over the match.
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In between, India earned two more penalty corners butfailed to score on both the occasions.
Sandeep Singh, the hero in India's win in Quetta, wasoff target in the first of the two setpieces in the 24th minute before Hallapahit dangerously three minutes later as the side employed a variation hoping toreduce the margin.
India played with lot more aggression in the secondhalf that forced the Pakistanis to go on the defensive and it helped thevisitors' cause.
Prasad's goal added more fire in their attack as theypressed hard for the equaliser which came at the hour mark.
PTI
