<p><br />India: 3 South Africa: 3<br /><br /></p>.<p>At the Major Dhyanchand National stadium, the hosts held South Africa 3-3 in a match of high drama and tension. Fortunes swung both ways before the hosts put behind a controversial umpiring decision to slot in the equaliser through Shivender Singh with four minutes left.<br /><br />As Shivender netted a rebound off a Tushar Khandekar hit from the right, making it 3-3, the entire stadium celebrated, for they felt India had been wronged earlier in the game.<br /><br />It was 2-2 when India, off a counter-attack following a South African penalty corner, seemed to have scored their third goal through Sarwanjit Singh. After initially signalling goal, umpire Roel van Eeert of the Netherlands gave into strong South African protests, and conferred with other umpire Ged Curran of Scotland before accepting South Africa’s plea for a referral.<br /><br />The referral showed the ball had hit Vikram Pillay’s body earlier in the play, and the umpires cancelled out India’s goal, awarding South Africa a penalty corner instead. Austin Smith scored off the penalty corner, the Indians stunned by the delay in the referral. But they took it in their stride, launching strong raids before Shivender’s goal righted the wrong.<br /><br />With seven points, India finished level with South Africa, but their goal difference of minus-four, compared to South Africa’s minus-15, put them in fourth position in the pool. They will now fight it out with the fourth team from Pool A for the seventh place.<br /><br />South Africa, with nothing to lose, came hard at India in the first half, and their speed once again exposed the frailty of the Indian defence. As Lloyd Norrid-Jones darted in from the midfield, there was only the little Bharat Chikkara to cover him. Chikkara was hopelessly left behind as Norrid-Jones barged into the penalty area to fire past Adrian D’Souza.<br /><br />Rattled by that goal, India attacked in waves. A Rajpal cross screamed past the goalmouth with none to apply finishing touches before Sarwanjit scored the equaliser in the 17th minute. Darting in off a Prabhjot Singh pass from the left, Sarwanjit drilled the ball past Erasmus Pieterse in the South African goal.<br /><br />India had two penalty corners in the session but both were not stopped cleanly. Still, the second one gave them the opportunity to forge ahead, in the 24th minute. As the ball rolled, Diwakar Ram gained possession and his hard hit went in off the goalkeeper.<br />India started off the second half badly as they conceded a penalty corner in the third minute. <br /><br />Wade Paton’s hit was blocked on the line but it wasn’t cleared away and Justin Reid Ross breached D’Souza’s goal again. That set the stage for all the drama, with India just about managing to stay afloat in the end.</p>
<p><br />India: 3 South Africa: 3<br /><br /></p>.<p>At the Major Dhyanchand National stadium, the hosts held South Africa 3-3 in a match of high drama and tension. Fortunes swung both ways before the hosts put behind a controversial umpiring decision to slot in the equaliser through Shivender Singh with four minutes left.<br /><br />As Shivender netted a rebound off a Tushar Khandekar hit from the right, making it 3-3, the entire stadium celebrated, for they felt India had been wronged earlier in the game.<br /><br />It was 2-2 when India, off a counter-attack following a South African penalty corner, seemed to have scored their third goal through Sarwanjit Singh. After initially signalling goal, umpire Roel van Eeert of the Netherlands gave into strong South African protests, and conferred with other umpire Ged Curran of Scotland before accepting South Africa’s plea for a referral.<br /><br />The referral showed the ball had hit Vikram Pillay’s body earlier in the play, and the umpires cancelled out India’s goal, awarding South Africa a penalty corner instead. Austin Smith scored off the penalty corner, the Indians stunned by the delay in the referral. But they took it in their stride, launching strong raids before Shivender’s goal righted the wrong.<br /><br />With seven points, India finished level with South Africa, but their goal difference of minus-four, compared to South Africa’s minus-15, put them in fourth position in the pool. They will now fight it out with the fourth team from Pool A for the seventh place.<br /><br />South Africa, with nothing to lose, came hard at India in the first half, and their speed once again exposed the frailty of the Indian defence. As Lloyd Norrid-Jones darted in from the midfield, there was only the little Bharat Chikkara to cover him. Chikkara was hopelessly left behind as Norrid-Jones barged into the penalty area to fire past Adrian D’Souza.<br /><br />Rattled by that goal, India attacked in waves. A Rajpal cross screamed past the goalmouth with none to apply finishing touches before Sarwanjit scored the equaliser in the 17th minute. Darting in off a Prabhjot Singh pass from the left, Sarwanjit drilled the ball past Erasmus Pieterse in the South African goal.<br /><br />India had two penalty corners in the session but both were not stopped cleanly. Still, the second one gave them the opportunity to forge ahead, in the 24th minute. As the ball rolled, Diwakar Ram gained possession and his hard hit went in off the goalkeeper.<br />India started off the second half badly as they conceded a penalty corner in the third minute. <br /><br />Wade Paton’s hit was blocked on the line but it wasn’t cleared away and Justin Reid Ross breached D’Souza’s goal again. That set the stage for all the drama, with India just about managing to stay afloat in the end.</p>
