Indian women's hockey team suffer 1-2 loss to New Zealand

Auckland: The Indian women's hockey team lost 1-2 to New Zealand in their hard-fought match of the ongoing tour on Monday.

It was New Zealand who were quick to get off to an attacking start as they created a penalty corner early in the first quarter. The opportunity was brilliantly converted by Megan Hull in the third minute of the match. India overcame this early setback with a penalty corner created in the dying minutes of the first quarter. It was young Salima Tete who ensured India equalised the score 1-1.

Though India continued to play on par with New Zealand in the following quarters and denied the hosts potential shots on goal, a defensive error in the four quarter saw them concede a penalty stroke. Megan Hull made no mistake in finding the net to put the hosts ahead by a 2-1 scoreline.

The Indian eves had a good start in the New Zealand Tour with a 4-0 win against the New Zealand Development squad in their first match. IANS

"Even in the first game, Bumrah bowled slower balls that were going wider. Normally, death bowlers get into straighter lines, plus yorkers and mix it with chest height. He kind of changes things a lot and is tougher to play," Seifert said.

"...the ball was holding a lot more which made it tougher. So sometimes as a batsman you have to move away from the stumps and see if they bowl straight. I was backing myself to do something different instead of just standing there at the wicket," said the stumper, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls. IANS

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