Indian Eves Promise Much But Settle for 1-1 Draw Against England in World Cup opener

It was a match that could have gone either way and in the end India-England had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the World Cup – a result that won’t entirely disappoint both sides. Intesrestingly, at the 2018 World Cup in London, India faced England in their tournament opener and eked out a similar 1-1 draw. Indian skipper Savita was forced to pull off a splendid save from Hannah Martin in the early exchanges before David Ralph-coached England outfit took the important lead when Isabelle Peter pounceD on a pass from Owsley Lily – the 27-year-old forward in the nick of time deflected past onrushing Savita.

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India had the better of the exchanges but the goal set them back – a flurry of penalty corners came their way but they was unlucky on one occasion when Gurjit Kaur’s drag-flick grazed the crossbar. India waited close to half-time when they finally one of their six shorties earned in the opening half. India surprised England with Monica Malik taking the traditional PC hit along the carpet that produced a fine save from Maddie Hinch but experienced Vandana Katariya was on hand to slam home the rebound. It was clear that the pace of the Indians was bothering England and they considerably slowed down the game and looked to control the ball and focused on not giving away counter opportunities for India, who are known to be menacing. India had a great opportunity to move ahead but Neha Goyal’s attempt in the final quarter was foiled by Maddie Hinch.

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This is the third time that India had drawn England in four World Cup encounters – the draw means India would have to up their game and beat China and New Zealand in their next two pool games to progress to the quarterfinals. The 2-2 draw between China and New Zealand means that India cannot afford any more draws for securing a smooth passage to the last-eight stage.