Melbourne: India defeated New Zealand 4-2 to win their second successive match in the ongoing Champions Trophy hockey being played at Melbourne. India with the win have moved one spot closer to the semifinals spot.

India team which is the lowest-ranked team in this tournament and is playing through a wild-card started the match brilliantly and showed that they are here to compete. Indian team which finished at the 12th position in London Olympics continued to put pressure on the opposition defence and were rewarded as Akashdeep Singh got the first goal for India in the 10th minute.

India continued to put pressure and were leading comprehensively at the half-time break with the score at 3-1 in favor of the Indians.  Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Raghunath being the goal-scorers for India in the 14th and 25th minute respectively.

After the change of ends, Wilson scored for the Kiwis. But Indian players combine well and never allowed the Kiwis to get back into the match. Sardar Singh was once again brilliant and combined superbly with Chandi. Indian team pressed hard for the fourth goal and a brilliant pass from Sardar Singh helped Danish Mujtaba score the fourth goal for the Indian team five minutes before the end of the game.

India will now face Germany in their next match.    

By Indian Sports News Network