Pakistan on Thursday defeated New Zealand 4-2 in the opening match of the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh.It ended a run of five consecutive defeats at the hands of the Kiwis for Pakistan and gave them a good start to a tournament they hope to win.
Pakistan went on the offensive from the first whistle and came close to scoring in the second minute, but Muhammad Umar Bhutta sent his attempt wide with only keeper Kyle Pontifex to beat.
However Muhammad Rizwan Senior made his shot count in the third minute to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead.
The Kiwis then got their act together but failed to get the better of the Pakistani defence marshaled by skipper Muhammad Imran. With only Stephen Jenness showing some deft touches, New Zealand failed to get a decent shot on goal in the opening 15 minutes.
Pakistan were awarded their first penalty corner in the 24th minute and although the pus out was off the mark, Sohail Abbas managed to get a drag flick on target but was padded away by Kyle only to see it fall onto the path of Syed Kashif Shah who made no mistake to put Pakistan 2-0 ahead.
Though New Zealand were awarded two penalty corners at the stroke of half-time, they failed to make them count and the two teams trooped off with Pakistan leading 2-0.
In the 40th minute Pakistan were awarded their third penalty corner and Sohail’s low drag flick was well saved by Kyle yet again.
Pakistan went 3-0 up in the 51st minute when Abdul Haseem Khan managed to steer the ball past Kyle after a fine run by Muhammad Waqas on the right.
However Andrew Hayward reduced the deficit by converting a penalty corner in the 59th minute. But the joy was shortlived as Umar Bhutta put Pakistan 4-1 ahead in the 61st minute.
Though Hugo Inglis scored in the 63rd minute, the failure of New Zealand to take their chances from the six penalty corners they were awarded put paid to their chances of gaining anything from this match.
