The Indian women's hockey produced their best performance in eight Pro League matches with a shootout win over the Netherlands at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
India were down 0-2 in the first half but Deepika and Baljeet Kaur came up with superb finishes to make it 2-2 and then they took the two points after Savita Punia's heroics in the shootout.
Harendra Singh's side ended their home leg of FIH Pro League with nine points from eight matches, which included two outright wins.
Against the Dutch on Monday, India played well but couldn't get the positive result as they lost 2-4. The match started on an expected note with the Netherlands dominating the possession and creating multiple chances. If not for Savita's multiple saves, India would've gone behind in the first quarter.
The goal for the Dutch eventually came via Pein Sanders who converted a penalty corner variation in the 17th minute. And just before the break, Fay van der Elst scored the second goal of the night with India clearly being the second best team.
But the turnaround came in the third quarter. Harendra wanted his team to be a bit brave on the ball and they followed their coach's orders. Five minutes after restart, Sunelita Toppo broke through in the midfield and passed it to Deepika who came up with a superb run and dribble to enter the circle and beat the goalkeeper from a tight angle.
India continued their momentum in the final quarter and equalised in the fourth quarter. Sharmila got the ball in space on the right and pushed forward. She sent the perfect pass to Baljeet in front of the goal who didn't make any mistake in converting the chance with a first-time finish.
India managed to take the game to the shootout despite coming under intense pressure from the Dutch. In the shootout, Savita was outstanding as she forced multiple misses as India won 2-1 after conversions by Deepika and Mumtaz Khan.
India will play their remaining eight matches of the Pro League in June.
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