A dominant India scored twice in the first and fourth quarters to beat South Africa 5-2 in a classification match and finish joint ninth in the FIH Men's World Cup here on Saturday.
World number six India earned six penalty corners in the match and scored one from them while South Africa, ranked 14th, got three PCs without converting any one of them. India had 31 circle penetrations in total while South Africa had 22.
With around 60 per cent ball possession, the home side had 14 shots at goal as against nine by South Africa.
Abhishek, who was named player of the match, opened the scoring for India in the fifth minute before captain Harmanpreet Singh struck from his drag flick in the 12th minute.
The second quarter did not yield any goal from either side though India kept on attacking and made several circle penetration.
India, who led 2-0 at half time, had 15 circle penetration as against eight by South Africa at the breather.
In the third quarter, Amit Rohidas was shown a yellow card and India had to play one man short for five minutes.
But once Rohidas came back, India scored a goal in the last minute of the third quarter through Shamsher Singh (45th).s