Riding on Nikkin Thimmaiah's brace Indian men's hockey team defeated Malaysia 4-2 to register its first win in the round robin encounter of the 4 Nations Invitational Tournament in Melbourne on Thursday.
India were the dominant team in the opening periods of the game, pressing high and consistently effecting turnovers to keep Malaysia pegged back in their own half. Despite the overwhelming possession, there weren't many clear chances created as Malaysia's deep defence held firm.
There was more of the same in the second quarter, India dominant in the midfield but were unable to find a breakthrough in the final third. This lasted till the 24th minute of the match. Sardar Singh was the one at the fulcrum of the chance, capitalising on a Malaysian mistake to launch the attack. His pass found Satbir Singh, who laid it off to Nikkin Thimmaiah at the edge of the circle. Nikkin dummied the defender and cut into the circle, before unleashing a shot into the bottom corner to give India a 1-0 lead which India held on to as they went into halftime. Nine minutes into the third quarter, Malaysia hit back with the equaliser, Faizal Saari, converting a PC to draw them level. The parity didn't last long though, as India won themselves their first PC almost from the restart. From the PC, Rupinder Pal Singh made no mistake, to restore India's lead.
Malaysia had a flurry of PCs in the opening minutes of the final quarter. Shahril Saabah converted the second to draw them level.
The dominance on the ball paid off in the 55th minute, Nikkin scoring his second of the game to restore India's lead.
India were now in the ascendancy and had pushed up a gear. Within a minute Akashdeep Singh scored a fourth goal to ensure there would be no nervous moments at the end as India held on for a 4-2 victory. India will next face New Zealand on Saturday.