WSH: Hat-trick for Imran as Chennai down Chandigarh

Pakistan international Syed Imran Warsi scored a hat-trick as Chennai Cheetahs beat Chandigarh Comets 5-3, their second successive defeat, in the World Series Hockey here on Saturday night.

With both teams having lost their opening games earlier, the Chennai team dominated the proceedings for most part of the match taking an early lead.

They were leading 3-1 at half-time of the four quarter match, with each quarter being of seventeen-and-a-half years duration.

The remaining two halves saw some keenly contested hockey but Chennai maintained the edge.

The visitors, led by Brent Livermore, dominated the first quarter all through tasting success in the seventh minute with drag-flicker Imran earning them the lead in the first penalty corner.

Playing before a thin home-crowd, the Chandigarh team was looking hapless and lacking in intensity in the first quarter and conceded another goal when Adam Sinclair finished a good attack build up by Mark Harris.

The home team failed to capitalise on the presence of Pakistani import captain Rehan Butt, who had not featured in the first match.

Butt was running around without passes reaching him and his substitution for a while also did not help the team cause in the first quarter.

Their misery compounded when Warsi pumped in another goal off the second penalty corner which the team earned in the 5th minute of the second quarter making it 3-0.

Ramandeep Singh in the ninth minute deflected a pass finally scoring for Chandigarh. However, a golden chance which the home team got soon thereafter to score went abegging, with Mohd Amir failing to deflect an easy pass.

Rehan was in action in the third minute of the third quarter and scored his first goal taking a single handed shot.

Warsi, who was off the field for a while getting some treatment for back spasm in the second quarter, was once again in thick of action completing a hat-trick of the fifth penalty corner in the fifth minute of the third quarter.

Chandigarh scored their third goal in the 12th minute of the last quarter, with Sukhwinder Singh Gabbar finally finding the net on fourth penalty corner.

However, the visitors were in no mood to let them celebrate with Mark Harris finishing off a well build attack from the left flank to make it 5-3 with barely four minutes left in the match.

Chandigarh had lost their opening match to Bhopal Badshahs while Cheetahs too did not have a favourable start against Sher-E-Punjab.