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Captain Diwakar Ram struck a brace as an energetic India exhibited flair and fluency to beat Holland 3-2 in the Under-21 hockey 'Test' match at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires here on Saturday.
Diwakar scored with the drag flicks in the 17th and 51st minutes while right-winger Mandip Antil scored a field goal in the 24th minute.
India were in total command of the proceedings with dominant midfield play and ball possession as they rapidly interchanged positions and baffled the Dutch with superb off the ball moves. They led 2-0 at the lemon break.
Holland, who were at sea during most part of the match, got both goals from penalty corners in the 43rd minute and at the stroke of full time.
India brought in Belsajar Horo and Amardeep Ekka in the central midfield replacing Vivek and Vikas Sharma. The hard working Horo controlled his space not only with his accurate distribution but also timely interceptions to deny Holland create sorties.
Manjeet Kullu and Birendra Lakra lent good support on the lines keeping a tight man-to-man vigil. India repeatedly tore past the Dutch defence as Danish Mujtaba, Jay Karan and Mandip Antil engineered numerous attacks.
They should have taken an early lead but Jay Karan failed to connect a sitter from winger Dharamvir Singh. This was followed by Mujtaba's attempt, but he shot wide. | 
