Scores brace alongside Manpreet's double to beat England
Harmanpreet Singh and Manpreet Singh scored a brace each to help India beat England 4-3 in their second match of FIH Pro League at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Harmanpreet was instrumental in scoring all the four goals and he also notched up his 100th international goal to make the night a memorable one. Manpreet Singh meanwhile scored his first international goal in almost three years.
As for England, they took the lead early on through Liam Sanford, and David Condon and Sam Ward scored once each in the third quarter, but it wasn't enough as the night belonged to Harmanpreet, who leads the goal-scoring chart in Pro League with 13 goals.
While Manpreet opened the scoring for the hosts at the end of the first quarter, Harmanpreet scored his first of the night and his 100th international goal after India won their fourth PC 10 minutes into the second quarter with the score reading 1-1.
After failing to convert the third PC, he slotted the next one to the right of England goalkeeper James Mazarelo, who couldn't keep it out despite his best efforts. Within seconds India won their fifth PC and this time Manpreet got a touch to Harmanpreet's dragflick and the score was 3-1.
Harmanpreet's second and India's fourth of the night didn't come easily though. With the score reading 3-2 and England trying to make a comeback, Harmanpreet failed to convert four PCs on the trot but then he finally sounded the board with another low flick to make it 4-2 in the 43rd minute.
Ward did pull one back a minute later from another PC, but India held on to the lead to earn a victory.
Not only did India win in the end, but they also completely dominated the proceedings on the night despite Graham Reid making five changes to the team that played on Saturday. They had 10 shots on goal to England's five, 24 circle penetrations to England's 17 and eight penalty corners to England's six.
With the win, India now have 21 points from 10 matches.
Earlier, it was England who won their first PC as early as the 4th minute. While Nicholas Bandurak failed to score from that, England did score from the second PC that they won three minutes later. Ward played it to Samford on the right and he deflected the ball into the net.
Then with four seconds left on the clock, India won their second PC and Manpreet equalized. Just like England had done earlier, Harmanpreet slapped the ball hard towards Abhishek on the right. His deflection was saved by the England goalkeeper, but the ball rose, and Manpreet slapped it hard towards the goal. The ball hit the goalkeeper's pads and bounced into the net.
After that Harmanpreet took over and England were just blown away.
