India's habit of conceding goals in the dying moments continued as despite being a better side for most part of the match, they conceded a late-winner, just like the previous encounter, and suffered a second loss in the Hockey World Cup at The Hague on Monday.
The scores were tied at 1-1 with the match heading for a draw, when England got a penalty corner, just a minute before the hooter. India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh stopped the drag flick, but the ball went straight to Simon Mantell, who successfully converted the rebound to make it 2-1 in favour of England.
There was no time left for India to equalise as they faced a second defeat in as many games in the World Cup, after going down to Belgium 3-2 in the opener, when John-John Dohman scored in the final seconds of the match.
Manpreeet Singh and Mandeep Singh threatened to score in the opening minutes against England, but the defence stood firm and kept them at bay. Skipper Sardar Singh created plenty of problems for England with his dribbling skills and darting runs.
Akashdeep Singh also nearly scored for India when his shot inched past the goal, but it was England's Mark Gleghorne, who broke the deadlock in the 27th minute. Nick Catlin won a penalty corner for England and Gleghorne made no mistake as his powerful drag flick whistled into the goal.
However, their joy was short lived as Dharamvir Singh scored the equaliser in the 30th minute, when he scooped the ball over English goalkeeper George Pinner's head. India kept looking for the winner in the second half as Mandeep threatened the English goal every now and then.
Barry Middleton and Ashley Jackson pressed hard for a goal at the other end as well, but India kept them at bay until the final minute when they gave away a penalty corner.
"I thought India played well. It was a tough game and there was some sloppy play from us in the first half," England's coach Bobby Crutchly said.
Meanwhile in the first Group A match, Australia played skilful hockey against Spain to register a comfortable 3-0 win. The Kookaburras scored as early as the second minute when Rob Hammond outran the Spanish defence before passing the ball to Timothy Deavin, who placed the ball in.
Spain struggled to come to terms with the pace and skill of Australia in the first half, as the reigning champions scored two more goals before the halftime. Mark Knowles doubled the lead in the 10th minute, while Keiran Govers converted a penalty corner in the 33rd to seal the encounter.
In another match, Tom Boon scored four times as Belgium thrashed Malaysia 6-2 in the final game of the day. Malaysia took the lead twice in the first half, but Boon scored a hat-trick to remove any chance of an upset.
After scoring thrice in the first half, the Red Dragons score three more goals in the second half with Tanguy Cosyns converting a penalty corner, Boon scoring his fourth goal and Dohman scoring the sixth for Belgium.
Find the highlights of all three matches HERE, HERE and HERE.
