Kiwis rally to hold India

MELBOURNE, April 16: India, hoping to finish second and qualify for the final, received a setback when they were held to a 2-2 draw by New Z...

MELBOURNE, April 16: India, hoping to finish second and qualify for the final, received a setback when they were held to a 2-2 draw by New Zealand in their penultimate match of the second leg in the Colorado Cup hockey tournament here today.

After a morale boosting 2-1 victory over Argentina yesterday, India faltered in the crucial game allowing the Kiwis to equalise and earn their first point in the tournament.

India led 2-0 by halftime through Rajesh Chauhan8217;s ninth minute goal and Sabu Varkey8217;s strike in the 27th, but New Zealand bounced back through Richard Tattershaw 46th and Ken Robinson 63rd.

Each side had a chance to score in the last two minutes of the match, but New Zealand missed scoring after a penalty-corner variation and India failed to exploit a defensive error.

According to Baskaran, it was a good game that India should have won easily. 8220;Two loose balls were played badly in a match we dominated throughout, and we had to pay dearly,8221; he said. 8220;But those two mistakes prevented usfrom surging ahead of Argentina to second place in the table.8221;

Argentina came up with a surprise performance to hold hosts and tournament favourites Australia to a 4-4 draw in the other match of the day in the second leg of the tournament.

After the rest day tomorrow, India will meet Australia next.

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Saini suffers fracture
MELBOURNE: India captain Baljit Singh Saini was rushed to hospital after being hit in the face during a match against New Zealand. Coach Vasudevan Baskaran was very upset that the umpire took no action after the Indians captain was hit when Bevan Hari swung at the ball on his follow through. The incident occurred after the whistle was blown.

8220;The worst thing is that the New Zealand player was not shown any sort of card at all,8221; the Indian coach said. quot;The injury is not very serious. Saini is expected to be alright in about ten days. Team doctor Cruz is taking every care of him,8221; added Baskaran What the coach left unsaid was that the Indian captain would miss the restof the tournament.