Four-time champions Pakistan’s semifinal hopes go up in smoke after loss to minnows South Africa.

By Prateek Srivastava
 
South Africa registered their first win of the tournament as they surprised Pakistan 4-3 in a World Cup Pool B match at the National Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.
 
With this defeat the four-time champions are now out of the semifinal reckoning.

Pakistan went into the break leading 1-0 thanks to goal from Rehan Butt. The South Africans turned the tables in the second half as Gareth Carr, Ian Haley, Taine Paton and Marvin Harper were on the money to bring about a dramatic victory over their much-fancied rivals. Muhammad Imran and Waseem Ahmed reduced the deficit by scoring in the last two minutes of the game, but their efforts were too late in the day.   

Click here for image gallery

Eyeing a big win to keep their semifinal hopes alive, the Pakistanis started off well in the match as forward Butt scored a beautiful field goal five minutes into the match. But that was all from them in the first half.

Drag-flicker Sohail Abbas’s goal in the 23rd minute through a penalty corner was overruled after the video replays showed that the stopper was at fault. South Africa on the other hand were very ordinary and barring a couple of occasion were not noticeable.

But what happened after the break is beyond credulity. The South Africans, 13th in the world rankings and already out of last-four contention, hit the back of the net four times in the space of 16 minutes to take a 4-1 lead. Carr turned the video referral-influenced penalty corner successfully through a high shot into the top right corner in the 38th minute. Three minutes later, it was Haley’s turn to join the party. And then Paton scored on an accurate pass from right-out Carr. The fourth and last South African goal came through the stick of Harper who took no time to smash a Thornton McDade pass into the goal.

Pakistan will now play Australia on Monday while South Africa take on hosts India.

Got questions about the Hockey World Cup? Ask former Indian Olympic captain Pargat Singh. Send in your questions to espnstarweb@gmail.com