Harpal Singh Bedi / Bhubaneswar
Commonwealth Games runners up New Zealand waged a grim battle before overpowering lowly France 2-1 in the Pool A match of the 14th World Cup Hockey at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
Kane Russell put the black sticks ahead in the 16 the minute and Stephen Jenness made it 2-0 in the 56th minute. France reduced the margin a minute before the final whistle when caotain Victor Charlet converted the third penalty corner.
The match was anti- climax compared to the earlier encounter as both the teams lacked cohesion in their tactics.
New Zealand ranked 9 and playing their 11th World cup looked out focused and will need to have a relook at their game plan, if they want to stay live in the league. They failed to earn a single penalty while conceding three t their rivals.
France, playing in the World Cup for the 3rd time after a gap of 28 years, looked lacklustre as their striker lost their way and could not make use of the chances that came their way,
After a barren first quarter, the Kiwis managed to break the deadlock in the first minute of the second when striker Kane Russell collected a cross and made a good dash from the left flank to score a goal (1-0)
A minute before the end of this quarter French striker Viktor Lockwood in the rival circle and delayed taking a shot before the
New Zealand playing their 11th World Cup struggled to put their act together.Both their goals came not because of the individual brilliance but defensive lapses of their rivals
The Black Sticks squad was largely the same which played in Gold Coast but their fancied players the Gujarat origin Panchia brothers Arun and Jared, defender Shea McAleese, Hugo Inglis and 20 year old striker Hayden Phillips just went through the motions without making any impression
Friday Fixtures
Pool B: Australia vs Ireland
England vs China