Updated on
Summary
he touring Pakistan hockey team drew the third and final international against England 1-1 in Cannock, Central England, on Friday evening, taking the series 2-0. The home side shot ahead in the 14th minute though Iain Mackay who scored with a well-taken reverse stick hit from top of the circle.It took the visiting side some hard efforts to gain the equaliser in the 45th minute with England ending the first session in front by a slender lead.In the keenly fought first two games, Pakistan won by 2-1 and 3-2 respectively.After England went ahead, Pakistan threatened their equaliser just two minutes later when Syed Abbas Haider and Waseem Ahmed combined to supply Akhtar Ali, but he was driven wide by goalkeeper James Fair and his reverse stick hit crashed into the left post.Pakistan also wasted a couple of penalty corners and came close to conceding a second goal when Ashley Jackson drove into the circle but his strike went out.Another effort from Dan Fox whose pass across the goal eluded James Tindall meant that England went into short break with 1-0 lead.After surviving another English attack in the 44th minute when a diving Jackson could not get the touch needed on a ball across the face of goal, Pakistan succeeded in equalising.A nice move saw Muhammad Waqas feed the ball across the top of the circle to Abbas Haider who launched a fierce shot just to the right of Fair.The match was another tempestuous encounter with four yellow cards being shown while overall both sides failed to create enough scoring opportunities.While Pakistanis now return home, England next game is the home international against European champions The Netherlands on July 19 followed by a three-match series against India in Birmingham.
