FIH Hockey Pro League: India defeats England 4-3 with Harmanpreet’s hat-trick in the second leg

There were quite a few memorable moments in the match. Both Harmanpreet Singh and Sam Ward scored hat-tricks for India and England respectively. Harmanpreet Singh scored the 100th international goal of his career. Manpreet Singh finally ended his goal drought after three long years.

Within the regulation time, Manpreet Singh in the 15th minute and Harmanpreet Singh in the 26th minute, 27th minute and the 43rd minute were the goal scorers for India; While all three of England’s goals were scored by Sam Ward in the 7th minute, 38th minute and 44th minute.

England started the match aggressively and got two penalty corners within seven minutes. Sam Ward converted the second penalty corner for England with a neat deflection past Pathak, giving England a 1-0 lead. However, within the last few seconds of the quarter, India tied the score as Manpreet Singh neatly finished a well-placed pass by Harmanpreet, ending the first quarter with both squads tied 1-1.

The second round started slowly, with both teams looking for a spark. Indian forwards suffered from a little lack of coordination but soon sorted out. Eventually, Harmanpree Singh scored two back to back goals, giving India a 3-1 lead. The first half ended brilliantly for India after going down a point.

The scores were in favor of India going into half-time. Manpreet Singh scored the equalizer, and Harmanpreet gave them a two-goal lead, scoring twice in quick succession. England might have had more possession, but the Indian squad was in control of the ball.

India continued to play aggressively into the third quarter. England secured three subsequent penalty corners, but they failed to convert the first two. Sam Ward took a long shot directly into the goal on the third penalty corner, narrowing India's lead to 3-2. Both the teams were in a penalty corner loop as India got five subsequent penalty corners next. Harmanpreet completed his hat-trick on the fifth penalty corner with a superb low placed shot towards the right of the English goalkeeper. Nonetheless, the exhibition of penalty corners was not over yet as England got subsequent penalty corners again. Sam Ward converted the penalty corner into a goal with a drag flick shot, completing his hat-trick.

The third quarter ended with four goals for India and three for England.

Going into the fourth quarter, both teams must have wondered what further drama was in store for them for the day as yesterday’s match went into a shoot-out owing to the last-minute goal. The final quarter ended with no goal scored by either side. India won the game with a score of 4-3.

Both the teams gave remarkable performances. Harmanpreet Singh was named the player of the match for the second night in a row. India remains at the top spot with 21 points in ten matches, while England is at the seventh spot with seven points scored in six matches.

The Indian squad is set to play against Germany next over the April 14-15 weekend.