Full-strength India claim series after comeback win

But the visitors,buoyed by their emphatic win yesterday,hit the ground running.

It was a tale of two halves as India,error-prone in the first 35 minutes,came back with intent in the second,to win their fourth game of the five-test hockey series against South Africa 4-3 on Friday. India lead the series 3-1.

Coach Michael Nobbs had promised to field a stronger team in the last two games and with several key players in action,India were expected to have an easy run. But the visitors,buoyed by their emphatic win yesterday,hit the ground running.

SA went ahead when a defensive lapse in the 14th minute saw Justin Red Ross get past two Indian defenders before slotting the ball in. Just a couple of minutes earlier,Yuvraj Walmiki had missed a golden chance when he hit straight to the goalkeeper with no one else present inside the circle.

The South Africans seemed to be playing to a game plan that included using minimum passes to play the ball upfront,and playing long shots. The Indians,on the other hand,should be thankful to goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri,who brought off some impressive saves,and Ignace Tirkey,who weighed in with a couple of goal line clearances.

But the Indian team that came out on resumption seemed completely transformed. The attack suddenly gained teeth,as Sardar Singh splashed the ball around for the strikers to make merry. And if there were no goals scored before the 44th minute equaliser from Walmiki,it was solely because of inaccurate shots and the solidity of SA keeper Erasmus Pieterse.

Our aim was to wear them out before going on all-out attack and it worked, Nobbs said.

A frenetic ten minutes,fifteen minutes into the second half,saw four goals being scored. In the 50th minute,India earned their first penalty corner,which Raghunath converted.

Goals galore

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Three minutes later,Yuvraj was again in action,slotting home a pass from Birender Lakra on the right. On the counter,Ian Haley brilliantly deflected a cross from Lloyd Norris-Jones before SK Uthappa restored the two-goal lead two minutes later,after being put through by skipper for the day Shivendra Singh.

But the South Africans were not done yet and made it 4-3 in the 64th through Lloyd Madsens penalty corner variation. India,however,managed to hang on to seal the series.