The Indian women’s hockey team let slip some early advantage to go down 2-4 against USA in its second match of the Hawke’s Bay Cup at the Hastings Sports Park, here on Sunday.
From the very first minute, both the teams played a calculated game and struggled hard to keep the possession of the ball. The first quarter started with intense tussle between the teams and it was India who took the lead and opened their account through Anuradha Thokchom in the sixth minute of the match. As the second half commenced, the USA girls started playing with better strategies. Four minutes into the second quarter, Jill Witmer was quick to retaliate on the goal-line through a field effort in the 19th, which resulted in 1-1 equaliser.
Both the teams persistently tried to put pressure on the other but the score card remained 1-1 in the second quarter.
The dying minutes of the quarter saw some action as USA’s Kathleen Sharkey finally broke into the ‘D’ twice and scored back-to-back goals in the 42nd and 43rd minute for her team, taking the lead to 3-1.