Indian women’s hockey defeated South Africa 4-0©Twitter
India’s women’s hockey team continued their victories in South Africa as they beat the hosts 4-0 in their third match of the tour in Cape Town on Friday. Vandana Katariya (20′), Deep Grace Ekka (18′), Rani Rampal (2′) and Sangita Kumari (46′) all scored for India to give the guests an unstoppable 3-0 lead in the four-match test series . In India’s last two matches, they triumphed 5-1 and 7-0 over South Africa. After winning the first two matches fairly convincingly, the Indian team stuck to the basics as they finished the chances very well and played a disciplined structure to stay ahead.
The game started quickly and India created good chances in the circle. Rani has shown sublime form on her comeback Tour, scoring the first goal for India in the 2nd minute of the match. The early 1-0 lead brought some stability to their game as they needed some time to settle in the following minutes of the first quarter.
The team launched new forays into the rival box in the second quarter. In the 18th minute, a chance for a penalty corner was put to good use by Deep Grace Ekka, a regular in India’s PC attack. The 2-0 lead further gave India the ammunition to step up their attack and pressure South Africa.
They quickly scored their third goal as Vandana Katariya scored a brilliant field goal in the 20th minute. While the third quarter remained goalless, India ended the game with a 46th-minute field goal through young sensation Sangita Kumari.
They held onto the 4-0 lead with a fine defensive performance and maintained the winning streak after winning 5-1 and 7-0 in the previous two games.
India’s next game is against South Africa on Saturday.
India will also play their three-match test series against the top-ranked Netherlands at the same venue on January 23.
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