Imran Warsi scored a 69th minute penalty corner to give Pakistan a crucial 3-3 draw against New Zealand in their Group B match in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup here on Tuesday.
The draw gave both teams four points from two matches and kept them firmly in line for a semi-final berth. But both teams need to secure one more point from their remaining matches on Thursday to confirm their place.
Pakistan, ranked fifth in the world, will play Argentina in the last match while the Kiwis, winners of the World Cup qualifiers in Changzhou in China in April, will play the Netherlands. The Netherlands, third in the world ranking, also stayed in the hunt for a semi-final place with a 4-1 win over Argentina Monday.
The Pakistanis appeared a little lethargic and could not keep pace with the fast attacks by the Kiwis who easily broke down through the middle. On Monday they overcame the Netherlands 3-2 with a classic performance, but in their latest outing it took two penalty corners and a penalty stroke to save the match.
It only took the New Zealand side, ranked eight in the world, six minutes to open the scoring with Hayden Shaw firing from the first penalty corner.
Mohamed Imran equalised in the 10th minute off a penalty corner to keep the score 1-1 at half time. But the Kiwis were back in front in the 37th minute through youngster Shea Mcaleese before Mohamed Saqlain converted a penalty stroke to keep the Pakistanis level.
The match was heading for a draw when the Kiwis struck in the 66th minute through a field goal from Ben Collier. With just one minute to go, the Pakistanis earned their fifth penalty corner and Imran Wasi ensured them of a draw with a drag flick which went in off the goalkeeper's pads. Pakistan manager Shahid Ali Khan said they were lucky to have won a point from the match as the New Zealand side played a much better game.
"We have not played them for a long time since the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 where they beat us 7-2," he said. "But it is apparent that they have improved tremendously and their form in the recent months have been very good."
"So we are quite pleased with the point. We had gone in wanting to win the match and confirm our semi-final berth. But in the end we had to fight hard for the one point.
"We will have a rest day tomorrow and we will go all out to beat Argentina on Thursday. A draw is enough but we want a win," he said. Former Olympic champions Netherlands kept alive their hopes of a semis berth from Group B with a 4-1 win over Argentina in an earlier match.
The Dutch on Monday lost 2-3 to Pakistan and needed a win to stay in line for a semi-final place. They will next play New Zealand on Thursday and a win will confirm their place.
On Tuesday it was Argentina who were first to score with a penalty corner goal through Matias Villa in the ninth minute. The South Americans managed to keep the lead at half time. But in a space of just six minutes in the second half the Dutch overcame the deficit to take a 3-1 lead.
Rob Reckers claimed an equaliser in the 53rd minute before Teun de Nooijer scored in the 57th and 59th minutes. Ronald Brouwer added a fourth goal in the 70th minute to ensure full points from the match. "Overall there are still a few areas we have to work on and some aspects that we have improved," Dutch coach Roeland Altmans said. "Argentina are a good side and we are happy to have played them here. It was a good match and we certainly made better use of our chances today."
Netherlands 4 (Reckers 53, de Nooijer 57, 59; Brouwer 70) Argentina 1 (Villa 9)
H-t: 0-1
Pakistan 3 (Imran 10, Saqlain 44, Warsi 69) New Zealand 3 (Shaw 6, Mcaleese 37, Collier 66) H-t: 1-1.