Chennai, Jul 30: Hockey Bengaluru surprised fancied Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) 4-3 by scoring twice in the last 10 minutes in a Pool "A" match of the 91st All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament here today (July 30).
BPCL were ahead 3-2 with some 13 minutes to go for the hooter when the Bengaluru team hit back through a penalty corner conversion from V R Raghunath and a 63rd minute field goal by Biju Yirkal to secure a crucial win.
Imran Khan put BPCL ahead by finding the net in the 15th minute. In the second half, the lead kept changing hands before the Bengaluru team stormed to victory with a strong performance in the last 15 minutes.
The Hockey Bengaluru team recovered well after a 6-2 loss at the hands of the fancied Indian Railways in its opening match, to pull off a win against BPCL. BPCL suffered a second defeat, which could put its chances of making the semifinal in jeopardy.
In Pool "B" matches, Punjab National Bank notched up a second straight win, outclassing Hockey Odisha 6-2 with Gagandeep Singh and Gurjinder Singh leading the charge scoring two goals each while Army XI defeated Central Secretariat Hockey Team 2-1.
PNB leaped to a 4-1 lead in the first half with an attacking approach as Hockey Odisha's fortunes continued to suffer after it started with a creditable draw against Army XI on the opening day.
Army XI, meanwhile, bounced back from a 5-0 thrashing against ONGC yesterday (July 29), to get the better of Central Secretariat Hockey Team 2-1 with the winning goal coming from BB Machaiah in the 69th minute.
Results:
Pool "A": Hockey Bengaluru 4 (Rajkumar Pal 42, V R Raghunath 56, 61, Bijju Yirkal 63) beat BPCL 3 (Imran Khan 15, Jarnail Singh 51, Anand Rai 57).
Pool "B": Punjab National Bank 6 (Gagandeep Singh 9th minute, 53, Hardeep Singh 10, Gurjinder Singh 16, 30, Sumit Toppo 54) bt Hockey Odisha 2 (Asish Topno 34, Manip Kerketta 38).
Army XI 2 (Siraju AP 10, BB Machaiah 69) beat Central Secretariat Hockey Team 1 (Sivamani 33).
PTI