India lost a poor shootout to England 2-1 after a 2-2 draw in their second match of the 2024-25 FIH Pro League.
After the thrilling 3-2 win on Saturday against these same opponents, India started slow on Sunday at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar. England were all over the hosts in the first quarter before the roles were reversed and India penned England into their own circle for most of the second quarter. Goalkeepers Savita Punia and Miriam Pritchard were decidedly unbothered, though, as the teams went into the halftime break at 0-0.
During the break, India coach Harendra Singh would say his team were giving too much respect to their opponents, but that problem was not addressed as once again India sat back and finally England pressure told as Maddie Axford deflected a Sophie Hamilton penalty corner into the roof of the net. It stayed 1-0 as the third quarter ended there was little arguing with the score.
India remained rather dull at the start of the first quarter but a cutting Salima Tete pass and smart movement from Mumtaz Khan saw the latter win a penalty stroke - which was duly converted by Navneet Kaur. England came screaming forward again, and the pressure told once again as Tessa Howard converted neatly to make it 2-1. Inside thirty seconds, though, WHIL final hero Rutuja Pisal found herself completely unmarked in front of Pritchard's goal and duly scored to make it 2-2 with three and a half minutes to go.
That's how the score remained and the match entered into a shootout. India led early with a neat Navneet Kaur conversion but a combination of poor finishing and superb keeping from both keepers kept it at 1-0 as the takers came and went. In the fifth must-finish pen, Lily Walker converted to make it 1-1 before more misses ensued... till Sophie Hamilton came back during sudden death pens to make it 2-1 and win the bonus.
India next play Spain on Tuesday, Feb 18 at 5.15 PM; while England have a longer wait - they face Netherlands on Friday, Feb 21 at 3.00 PM local.
You can relive all of today's action in our live blog right here: