Hockey: Indian women lose to New Zealand 1-2

Indian women taste defeat, lose 1-2 to New Zealand

A brace by Megan Hull helped the hosts New Zealand beat India 2-1 in the first match in Auckand on Monday. Salima Tete was the lone Indian scorer. After getting off to a good start on its New Zealand Tour with a 4-0 win against the New Zealand Development squad in its first match, the visiting Indian team could not sustain the tempo and lost 1-2 to hosts in a hard-fought match. It was New Zealand which was quick to get off to an attacking start as it created a PC early in the first quarter. The opportunity was brilliantly converted by Megan Hull in the 3rd minute of the match. India overcame this early setback with a PC earned in the dying minutes of the first quarter. It was young Salima Tete who helped India to equalised the score 1-1. Also Read | FIH Pro League 2020: The Netherlands women record third consecutive win, beat USA 9-0 "Today we created enough scoring opportunities but we were not productive enough. New Zealand was very successful in the little changes it brought into the match compared to our first game and the hosts executed them well," expressed Chief Coach after the match. Though India continued to play at par with New Zealand in the following quarters and denied the hosts potential shots on goal, a defensive error in the four quarter saw them concede a penalty stroke. Megan Hull made no mistake in finding the net to put the hosts ahead by a 2-1 scoreline. "It is not about how many opportunities you create but how effective you are. New Zealand were stronger than the first match today and in the beginning we were struggling with that. But after the 1st quarter, we played much better," added Marijne. He further said, "We created 8 shots on goal and 4 penalty corners today, we are definitely working on being more effective in the coming matches." -PTC News