New Delhi: India lost to England 2-3 in their second pool B outing in the men's hockey World Cup on Thursday.
Despite the defeat in the first match, India were a confident bunch after a bright performance against a strong German team.
The Indians had majority of the possession in the opening minutes and got their first penalty corner in the 12th minute. However Arjun Halappa is no Sandeep Singh and his weak drag flick was easily saved.
Some sloppy defending saw India concede a penalty stroke in the 24th minute. But Bharat Chetri under the bar came to the rescue and kept the scoresheet clean.
India counterattacked and some great coordination between the forwards saw Shiv Inder tap in into an empty net in the 28th minute.
England were awarded another penalty stroke in the 32nd minute, this time Chetri was beaten but so was the outside post.
England kept the pressure up in the second half and were finally level in the 52nd minute, with James Tindall sounding the boards off a penalty corner.
Three minutes later England were in the lead. Chetri came up with a great first time save but some loose defending saw Simon Mantell score with no one to beat.
India conceded another another penalty corner in the 61st minute, which led to another by the same goal scorer. England went 3-1 ahead.
India pulled one back in the 65th minute after a period of sustained aggression, with skipper Dileep Tirkey getting his name on to the score sheet.
But it was too late. India had only themselves to blame for the second consecutive defeat.
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