Pakistan continued their fantastic display in the 2023 Sultan of Johor Cup and defeated New Zealand 3-2 on Saturday.
The Men in Green — during the match being played in Malaysia — showed absolute precision during the penalty corners, as all of their goals came from them.
The Green Shirts started the game on a high note, with Arbaz Ahmad putting his side in a dominating position after finding the back of the box in the 7th minute.
In the second quarter, it looked like the scoreline would remain the same, but Basharat Ali scored one more for the Men in Green just before the end of the second quarter in the 30th minute.
The third quarter remained goalless as both teams defended well and failed to penetrate their opponent’s defense.
The fourth quarter was the most thrilling of all, although Pakistan tripled their lead in the 47th minute with Mohammad Khan scoring for the Green Shirts but New Zealand fought back and scored two goals in two minutes with Gus Nelson and Patrick Ward scoring for the Black Caps.
The game ended 3-2 with Pakistan emerging as winners and going to the top of the group.
They will now play Malaysia on October 31.
Earlier, the Pakistan vs India encounter ended 3-3 after a thrilling encounter.
The six-goal thriller between the arch-rivals saw four goals from penalty corners with both India and Pakistan scoring one field goal each.
Pakistan were losing the game till the 57th minute but didn’t give up and scored a 58th-minute equaliser with Arbaz scoring, ending the game 3-3.
