Men in Blue hold the Netherlands 1-1 to set up summit clash with Australia
India's Mandeep Singh celebrates his goal v the Netherlands in the Champions Trophy tie on Saturday. Pic/Worldsportpics
In the end, as seconds ticked away furiously, India hanging on at 1-1, it seemed that the Dutch had scored. India didn't have any referrals left. But umpire Gareth Greenfield used his umpire's referral and ruled the goal out giving the Netherlands a penalty corner. India breathed. Three penalty corners in succession; all saved by the defence.
Finally, the ball was thrown into the Dutch half as India counted down the seconds. A huge celebration on the bench as the hooter went signalling India's entry into the Champions Trophy final; their second consecutive and a replay of the 2016 final which was also against World Champions Australia.
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Three quarters of attrition, errors and striking circle woes had pursued India. If PR Sreejesh was the wall in the 1st two quarters, it was the compactness of the Indian defence and their coming of age that helped matters. The Dutch dominated 26 circle entries to India's 11. But India was focusing on closing defences and looking for the counter.
In the 47th minute, they had it when Harmanpreet Singh saw his third penalty corner taken on the pads by the Dutch goalkeeper Sam van der Van. Mandeep saw his opportunity and dug out the ball, scooping it into the empty Dutch goal. Holland was shocked. India led 1-0.
Then in the 55th minute as tensions soared Thierry Brinkmann running inside the circle, sticking to the line, flicked the ball towards Sreejesh, cutting the angle. Barely an inch was there between the post and Sreejesh. But Brinkmann's flick zipped into that space and gave Holland the equaliser.
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