In the opener of the England tour, Indian Women lost to the home team with a 0-2 margin.
The Indian women’s team which is touring England in their scheme to prepare for the Rio 2016 Summer Games which are scheduled in August this year, couldn’t do much in the match as they failed to have a listing on the scoreboard.
Having said that, there was no dearth of determination and resolute game play from from the Indian side, which looked a improved unit compared to their last outing.
India started the match with aggression and pace and within the 7th minutes, they were able to earn a penalty corner, which, however, went useless as Anuradha couldn’t put a rebound into opposition’s goal. The Indian girls kept attacking without much luck as at one occasion Vandana’s deflection into the English goal was given as dangerous play by the referee. The teams went for half time break without any listing on the scoreboard.
Coming back from break, English team increased pace of their game as Ellie Rayar scored for them, further to that, a re-energized English team didn’t allow India to showcase any aggression and just as there was three minutes remaining in the hooter, Ellie Rayar scored again converting a penalty corner.
Overall It was a tough outing at the first match for the touring Indian girls as they lost the match 2-0, the Indian side looked an organized side as they kept pressing for inroads into the English goal all through the match.
The home side was on their toes as against the scoreboard status at the end of the match. A strong comeback will be expected from the Indian team in their second match.
A strong comeback will be required from the Indian team in their second match to make the most out of the test series.