Bangalore, September 6: A deflection by Amrita Minj off a long pass from Shushilla Lakra in the 43rd minute turned out to be the clincher as India girls juniors defeated Malaysia girls juniors 1-0 in the third of the four-Test hockey series 2-0 at the KSHA Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.Che Inan Melati Che Ibrahim's corner was stopped by their captain Deva Leela Devadasan who fed it to Nor Saliza Ahmed Soobni who found space on her right and executed the shot. But it went wide.The Indians, apart from their defensive lapses in the beginning of the second half, looked aggressive after that and in the 43rd minute, a Sushilla Lakra long ranger from the halfline took a deflection off Amrita Minj's stick and ballooned into the goal.Malaysia's captain Deva Leela Devadasan showed some good stick work but could not get through the Indian defence.India had a close chance in the 57th minute when a Mamta Kharab pass from the right flank was intercepted by Sarita Lakra whose attempt was deflected by the Malaysian goalkeeper Ernawati Mahmud. Indian captain Surinder Kaur took the rebound but her reverse flick went wide.India floundered a couple of chances in the second half and in the dying minutes, got another penalty corner. Sarita Lakra pushed it to Manju Phaswal who fed it to Subhadra Pradhan. Subhadra had a clear sight of the goal and attempted, but Malaysia's skipper Deva Leela Devadasan made a well-timed clearance.With the series decided, the fourth and the last match to be held on Thursday will be purely of academic interest. The match will get underway at 5.30 p.m and will be played under floodlights.
