Skipper Imran scored an impressive hat-trick to help Pakistan kick off their Azlan Shah Cup campaign in style yesterday. Photo: FILE AFP
Pakistan hockey captain Mohammad Imran led from the front as he scored a hat-trick that helped his side pip defending champions New Zealand 4-3 in the opening match of the 22nd Sultan Azlan Shah Cup yesterday.
“Though New Zealand came back from three goals down, our players showed good composure and held on to their nerves,” said Pakistan coach Akhtar Rasool. “It is a good win, but again we made things difficult for ourselves and should not allow this to happen again.”
The start of the tournament was disrupted by showers forcing the organisers to move all the matches 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled play.
The greenshirts pushed for an opening right from the start and were rewarded for their efforts when Imran converted a penalty corner in the 19th minute.
Pakistan changed gears from there on by playing aggressively which helped them double their lead just two minutes later, when forward Abdul Haseem Khan tapped in an empty goal with assistance from winger Muhammad Waqas Sharif.
Leading 2-0, Pakistan were in no mood to show mercy as they increased their lead in the 28th minute when Imran scored from another penalty corner. At this stage, it was curtains for New Zealand but they pulled one back against the run of play as Kane Russel scored on the half-hour mark.
New Zealand went into the break with some hopes of a fightback and returned with a more meaningful display as Blair Tarrant weaved his magic in the semi circle, dodging past two defenders before slotting the ball past Imran Butt to cut down his team’s deficit to just one. Three minutes later Andy Hayward made no mistake from New Zealand’s fourth penalty corner to put his team on level terms.
But Imran shattered the Kiwis’ dream of a victory by scoring the ultimate winner in the 58th minute and Pakistan held onto their lead till the end to bag important three points.
Pakistan will play against Australia today, and Akhtar stated that the favourites were an entirely different challenge and the match would be even more interesting than the opening one.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2013.
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