Kiwis rout Pakistan to retain FIH Nations Cup title

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: New Zealand showed ruthless aggression, especially in the first half, which enabled them to retain their title when they demolished Pakistan 6-2 in the final of the FIH Men’s Hockey Nations Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
The victory also put Kiwis in the FIH Pro League.
Scott Cosslett struck two while Sam Hiha, Dylan Thomas, Sean Findlay and Scott Boyed scored one goal apiece to ensure Kiwis’ huge win.
Zikriya Hayat and Sufyan Khan struck for Pakistan.
New Zealand went all out in the start to put pressure on Pakistan and the first one minute and forty seconds were highly sensational as Kiwis were disallowed two goals after Pakistan took two successful reviews.
New Zealand were disallowed goal in the first minute when Pakistan’s review remained successful as the ball had hit New Zealand’s striker on his foot in the area. And after few seconds New Zealand were again disallowed the goal on short corner after Pakistan took a review which showed that the tackle of the New Zealand’s player was dangerous.
In the sixth minute New Zealand got short corner but failed to capitalize and they were given another seconds after and this time Scott Cosslett managed a fantastic goal to put New Zealand 1-0 ahead.
In the seventh minute New Zealand got another short corner but Kiwis failed to covert and umpire awarded them penalty stroke but Pakistan took review and it showed that the ball had hit first the defender’s stick before crashing the pole and so it was reversed to short corner on which Pakistan keeper Muneeb-ur-Rehman made a super save.
In the ninth minute Ahmed Nadeem had a chance but he failed to connect the ball.
And soon afterwards New Zealand were awarded fifth short corner in the tenth minute but they failed to capitalize.
In the last minute of the first quarter Elmus fed Sam Hiha in the area and he smashed it smartly towards the right of the keeper to stretch New Zealand lead to 2-0 by the close of first quarter.
In the 17th minute Muneeb stopped a long pass but Dylan Thomas was there who put it in the net to score third goal for his team. A minute latter Sean Findlay struck the fourth goal when Muneeb badly responded to the drive and New Zealand were now 4-0 in the start of the second quarter.
In the 21st minute of the game New Zealand missed a sure goal. New Zealand were going relentless at this stage and were inflicting rallies after rallies to keep Pakistan in persistent pressure.
In the 25th minute Pakistan were awarded short corner but it was reversed after Kiwis’ review remained successful.
In the 27th minute New Zealand struck their fifth goal when Scott Boyde hit it on rebound. Pakistan challenged it but video referral showed that it was a clean goal. In the 28th minute New Zealand got penalty corner but failed to capitalize. They got their seventh penalty corner soon afterwards but Pakistan’s defenders did well to clear it. New Zealand were 5-0 ahead at the end of the second quarter.
The third quarter belonged to Pakistan as New Zealand were seen a bit relaxed and the Green-shirts unsettled them through incisive rallies from both cordons.
In the 35th minute New Zealand rallied smartly but Pakistan keeper Abdullah did a fine job to avert the danger.
In the 36th minute Zikriya Hayat reduced the deficit for Pakistan with a fine field goal, his first in the tournament. In the 39th minute Pakistan had a chance but New Zealand keeper did a fine job to clear it.
Pakistan at this stage got four successive short corners but failed to score a goal, leaving the fans utterly frustrated.
In the 42nd minute Ghazanfar Ali claimed short corner for Pakistan but Abdul Rahman’s smash went over the goalpost.
A minute latter New Zealand got two successive penalty corners and on the last one Abdullah made a good save.
At the end of the third quarter Pakistan were trailing 1-5.
In the start of the fourth quarter New Zealand wasted two short corners due to fine defence work from Pakistan.
In the 51st minute Hannan Shahid created a fine chance but failed to finish it.
At this stage Pakistani fans also started leaving the stadium after losing fightback hopes in the game dominated by Kiwis.
In the last four and a half minutes Pakistan played with ten men as Zikriya Hayat was yellow carded in the 56th minute.
In the 58th minute Scott Cosslett struck again on short corner to stretch New Zealand lead to 6-1.
one minute from full time drag-flick specialist Sufyan Khan struck on short corner to reduce Pakistan’s deficit to 2-6 and soon afterwards the final whistle came in.
Pakistan had beaten France 3-2 in penalty shootout in the semi-finals while New Zealand had downed Korea 4-3 in the pre-final.