A Sunil Chhetri brace in the second half helped India move into the final of the SAFF Championship,as the hosts defeated Maldives 3-1 in the semifinal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday. Shamweel Qasim had scored for Maldives in the 60th minute to cancel out Syed Rahim Nabis first half strike,but the visitors conceded a penalty minutes after,which Chhetri converted. Chetri added another in injury time to seal the contest for India. India,who progressed through the group stage in laboured fashion,started the semifinal brightly. Rahim Nabi,who was operating down the left flank was a constant threat and he gave notice of his intent in the 13th minute when he crossed for Jeje Lalpekhula,but striker's flick-on was kept out by custodian Imran Mohammed. Rahim Nabi and India were not to be denied though,as the defender this time judged the flight of Clifford Mirandas 24th minute free-kick to perfection to volley into the net. India held on to their lead to go 1-0 ahead at half-time. Maldives showed better intent in the second half to launch a series of attacks,which custodian Karanjit Singh managed to repel,his save off Ahmed Thoriq early in the second half being a case in point. Maldives continued to dominate and it was not a surprise when the equaliser arrived fifteen minutes into the second half. Ibrahum Fazeel and Akram Abdul Gani were instrumental in teeing up Shamweel Qasim whose scorcher from inside the D brought Maldives level. The goal woke India from its slumber and barely a minute later,Chhetri won and converted a penalty,after he was brought down by Asad Abdul Ghani in the box. In injury time,Jeje Lalpekhula,who had a disappointing outing so far,collected a Karanjit Singh clearance and fed the ball to Chhetri after spotting his run down the left flank. Chhetri collected the pass and sprinting clear,fired home India's third to put the contest to bet. Afghanistan through too In the second semifinal,Afghanistan defeated Nepal 1-0 to book a spot in the final against India. After 90 minutes of regulation time failed to break the deadlock,Balal Arezo strode down the right flank and fired in a finish in the 11th munite of extra time to sink Nepal. The game turned ill-tempered towards the end as Nepal strove for the equaliser,resulting in a couple of its players being cautioned,but Afghanistan held on to its lead to go through to the final.
