Two-goal burst from man of the match Sardara Singh and Diwakar Ram were the only bright spots during  Hyderabad Sultans 5-3 win over Chennai Veerans in the Premier Hockey League at the Sector 42 stadium here on Monday.

The game was as dull as the cold day. Veerans came up with another highly inconsistent performance that saw them finishing their league engagements with just one point. Sultans, on the other hand, moved up to eight points from five games and are yet to play a game against Maratha Warriors, who are on seven points.

Defending champions Orissa Steelers have eight points in their kitty, while Sher-e-Jallandhar have five points, paving the way for a close contest for the remaining two semifinal berth. Bangalore Hi-Fliers and Chandigarh Dynamos have already qualified for the last four stage.

Good games

Veerans have had some good games against Dynamos and Hi-Fliers, but none of that form was on show on Tuesday. Sloppy work in the midfield and the defence pegged them back and their rivals had a free run on several occasions. In some instances, just one aerial ball from the Sultans' defence to their forwardline was enough for a goal. Sardara and Didar Singh did a good job for the Sultans and took the chances that came their way.

Sultans made regular advances to the rival circle and managed to take a three-goal lead in the space of 14 minutes. Their task was made easier as Veerans' defence were not up to the mark.

Bikas Toppo opened the scoring for Sultans in the fifth minute. He took the ball in from the left flank and passed to Didar, who was near the spot. However, Didar's weak shot failed to find the goal, but Toppo tapped the ball inside from the left.

Ram doubled the lead for the Sultans two minutes later. The junior India camper made no mistake with a drag-flick that kept low and hit the boards. There was quick thinking and alert mind involved in their third goal, scored by Sardara in the 14th minute. Pakistan's Adnan Maqsood shot into the circle from the right flank. The ball went past the goal to the left flank, where Sardara was waiting and his slap shot found the goal rather easily.

Veerans played intelligent game at times and gave glimpses of coming back into the match. The Chennai team forced penalty corners in the 16th and 22nd minutes, which Indian penalty corner specialist VR Raghunath converted with minimum fuss. At that time Veerans, finally, seemed to hit their straps. Sadly, the fact that they could not sustain their form did them in and Sultans were all over the rival goal area.

Sultans took a 4-2 lead with Ram getting into the scoring act again in the 39th minute with a drag-flick. Sultans' skipper Sardara further consolidated his team's position with a 44th minute goal. This was perhaps the best goal of the match. Sardara made a good solo run, but found rival defender Raghunath to get past. Veerans' goalkeeper PR Sreejesh too rushed out to defend. Sardara then took the ball away to the right flank and shot into the goal from a near zero angle.

Dutchman Joost van Den pulled one back for Veerans in the 64th minute, but that was of not much use as Sultans won and took a crucial step towards a spot in the last four.

Wednesday's match: Hyderabad Sultans vs Maratha Warriors (6.00 pm).