India dished out a dominating performance to notch up a 6-2 victory over hosts Scotland in a Pool A match in the men’s hockey competition of the Commonwealth Games, here today.
Ranked ninth in the world, India went on a goal-spree as they rode on the scores from Gurbaj Singh (6th minute), Raghunath Ramachandra (22nd, 44th), Rupinder Singh (36th, 49th) and Gurwinder Chandi (40th) at the National Hockey Centre here.
Kenny Bain (56th) and Nicholas Parkes (68th) were the goal-scorer for Scotland.
India started the match as overwhelming favourites against the 25{+t}{+h}-ranked Scotland, and the Sardar Singh-led side were completely in control of the match all through the 70 minutes as they made frequent inroads in their rival circle and scored at ease.
The Scots, on the other hand, hardly had any answer to India’s style of play. They tried to create opportunities but they were always met with the stubborn defence of India.
India started on a dominating note with Gurbaj drawing the first blood when he dodged a few defenders on the right flank and sounded the board with a powerful direct flick to give India an early 1-0 lead.
The visitors earned their first penalty corner in the eighth minute but they failed to convert. However, Raghunath didn’t repeat the mistake as he converted the second set piece with an angled shot which found the right of the net.