Kiwis, Pakistan play out 3-3 draw in Azlan Shah

Kuala Lumpur, June 20 (UNI) New Zealand were just two minutes away from a semifinal berth before Imran Warsi struck a penalty corner as Pakistan held the World Cup qualifying winners 3-3 in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament here today.

New Zealand took the lead thrice in what was a thriller but each time Pakistan fought back to equalise.

The scorers for New Zealand were Bradley Shaw (6th), Shea Mcaleese (37th) and Ben Collier (66th), while Pakistan scored through Muhammad Imran (10th), Muhammad Saqlain (44th) and Imran Warsi (68th).

New Zealand, high on confidence, after a 3-2 win in their first match against Argentina played attacking hockey all the way with Ben Collier and Bevan Hari combining very well.

Bradley Shaw struck a penalty corner in the 6th minute to give the Kiwis the lead but Pakistan neutralized quickly through another penalty corner conversion by Muhammad Imran.

The Kiwis could have forged ahead in the first half itself but five penalty corners, all in the space of a few minutes, were wasted.

At the break, both the teams were tied at 1-1.

Two minutes after the break, New Zealand took the lead off their sixth penalty corner. After selling a dummy to the Pakistan defence, Shea Mcaleese struck a powerful shot that went high into the net as Salman Akhbar tried vainly to stop the shot.

A penalty stroke awarded to Pakistan was converted by skipper Muhammad Saqlain as he flicked powerfully to equalize the scores at 2-2.

Just when it seemed that both the teams might play out for a 2-2 draw, the Kiwis struck a beautiful goal to take the lead in the 66th minute. Gareth Brooks raced down the right flank and faced with the goalkeeper in front, shot back inside the striking circle where Bevan Hari standing on top of the circle struck a powerful shot. Ben Collier just threw in his stick to deflect the ball past Salman Akhbar as the Kiwis celebrated what they thought was the match-winner.

But Pakistan fought back and with just two minutes left, earned a penalty corner. Imran Warsi's shot seemed to have been saved by the Kiwi goalkeeper but the ball slipped between the pads as Pakistan prevented the Kiwis from making it to the semi-finals.

Both Pakistan and New Zealand now need to win their last matches to make it to the semi-finals from Pool B. Pakistan play Argentina while New Zealand take on Holland.

Pakistan goalkeeping coach Shahid Ali Khan said that they were lucky to hold New Zealand after the Kiwis had taken a lead.

''I think we played badly and our forward line was low on the effort required to get in the goals. But we still have a match in hand and if we manage to beat Argentina, we would reach the semi-finals,'' he said.

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