Ramandeep’s brace help India thrash Pakistan 6-1

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

24
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Having beaten Pakistan 7-1 in the last game, India put another five past their arch rivals to put the former’s spot in next year’s World Cup in jeopardy. Ramandeep Singh (2), Akashdeep Singh, Pradeep Mor, Harmanpreet Singh, and Mandeep Singh all scored in the one-sided rout in London.

Ramandeep draws first blood

The first chance of the game fell for Akashdeep Singh who found some space in the Pakistan area but failed to keep his shot on target. A minute later, it was India again as, some good interplay between Sumit and SV Sunil saw the ball reach Mandeep Singh, who won a penalty corner off a Pakistani player. However, with a record of 4/15 in the tournament, it was another wasted chance for the Indian contingent. However, the men in blue were not to be denied as a couple of minutes later, Ramandeep Singh, who had scored a brace in the previous game against Pakistan, got his name on the scoresheet by tapping the ball past the line. Pakistan tried to launch a fightback in the dying minutes of the quarter, but India held on well to take a deserved 1-0 lead into the mini-break. 

Three goals in as many minutes put India in the driving seat

The second quarter started off with Sardar Singh getting a green card and while the Indian legend was still in the sin-bin, Umair Sarfraz handed a yellow to reduce both teams to ten men. Pakistan immediately switched to a man-to-man marking system to see the first half near the final five minutes. But India were in no mood to enter the midway break with a slender lead and they increased the tempo of the game and were rewarded almost immediately as Talwinder got at the end of a Pradeep Mor shot to double the lead. Three minutes later, it was the same result but a different goal scorer with Akashdeep “flicking” India into a three-goal lead. But the goal scoring wasn’t done yet as some brilliant passing by Mandeep and Sunil released Ramandeep who doubled his tally for the game and took India into half-time with a dominant 4-0 lead.

India keep their dominance intact

With a comfortable lead in the bag, India took off goalkeeper Akash Chikte to give Vikas Dahiya another chance in the team. On the other end of the field, it was as if nothing had changed as Ramandeep fell inches short of completing his hattrick after failing to get at the end of a Mor pass. But India were not to be denied a fifth goal as Harmanpreet Singh put the ball past Ali Amjad in the Pakistan goal from a penalty corner. With a more than comfortable lead, India took the foot off the gas and paid the price as Ajaz Ahmed was the fastest on the counter as Pakistan scored their first goal of the match. Following the goal, India regained their composure and fashioned a chance of their own with Akashdeep’s pass was slightly over hit for Sunil who couldn’t apply the finishing touch. The Indian defence looked resolute after that and saw out the quarter with the scoreboard reflecting a cool 5-1 in their favour. 

India put six past hapless Pakistan

Coming into the final quarter, India had scored 22 goals in the tournament, 12 of which had come against Pakistan. India, however, were still hungry for more goals and continued to pin Pakistan back in the final quarter, but even though India created a couple of openings for Ramandeep, he failed to complete his hattrick. However, that did not mean that India would not get another goal, as captain Mandeep Singh scored his first goal of the tournament to make sure Ali had conceded six goals against the Indians in two consecutive games. With seconds left on the clock, India were given another penalty corner, but yet again they failed to capitalize and ended the game as 6-1 winners. India will now face Canada in the 5th/6th place game tomorrow. 

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