India hold off Pakistan 5-3 to finish second with six points as England top Pool D with nine points from three wins.<\/p>\n
A 10-man India have staved off Pakistan 5-3 and advanced to the second round of the Hockey World Cup after a crucial encounter for the South Asian neighbours at Wagener Stadium.<\/p>\n
The victory on Wednesday for eighth-ranked India keeps them in contention for the semifinals while Pakistan were eliminated from the tournament, which is being held in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
India captain Harmanpreet Singh led the way when he opened scoring in the fourth minute from a penalty corner before Abhishek doubled their lead in the 10th minute off a pass from Mandeep Singh.<\/p>\n
Harmanpreet added one more for India in the 20th minute off a penalty corner before Pakistan\u2019s Hannan Shahid scored off a rebound from the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n
Abhishek extended the India lead to 4-1 from a lucky deflection off Pakistan\u2019s stick, but Sufyan Khan\u2019s superb dragflick off a penalty corner narrowed the gap to 4-2 at halftime.<\/p>\n
Hardik Singh made it 5-2 with a penalty stroke early in the third quarter, which ended with a three-point lead for India and a green card each for Pakistan\u2019s Zikriya Hayat and India\u2019s Rajinder Singh.<\/p>\n
Pakistan rallied to make it 5-3 just as the fourth quarter began when Shahid scored in the 45th minute after Hardik lost possession of the ball in the midfield.<\/p>\n
India were unsuccessful with their video review taken by Dilpreet Singh in the 53rd minute. It was tough luck for the men in orange when Aditya Lalage received a yellow card in the 55th minute, ruling him out from the rest of the match.<\/p>\n
A 10-man India held off Pakistan for the last few minutes to seal the win and progress to the second round. They sit in second place in Pool D with six points from an earlier 3-1 win against Wales.<\/p>\n
England consolidated their chokehold on Pool D with a commanding 8-2 win over Wales earlier on Wednesday at Wagener Stadium. They are through to the semifinals with a perfect nine points from three match victories.<\/p>\n
England and India will face the Netherlands and either Argentina or New Zealand in the second round.<\/p>\n