India suffered a 0-3 defeat against New Zealand in the second international friendly in ChristchurchGoals from Finn Surman, James McGarry and Chris Wood handed the All Whites a series sweep, leaving the Blue Tigers with eight goals conceded and none scored across the two matches
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India vs New Zealand(Photo: AIFF)
The Blue Tigers suffered another defeat against New Zealand, going down 0-3 in the second international friendly at One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch on Sunday, November 15After a 0-5 loss in the opening match in Auckland, the Blue Tigers showed some improvement defensively after the break but failed to find a goal.
Finn Surman, James McGarry and Chris Wood scored for New Zealand, with all three goals coming in the first halfThe result gave the All Whites a clean sweep in the two-match series, while India’s struggles against higher-ranked international opposition continued.
Head coach Khalid Jamil made five changes to the Indian starting XI, with Ashique Kuruniyan, Jay Gupta, Mehtab Singh, Mohammed Sanan and Roshan Singh Naorem coming into the sideRyan Williams captained India for the first time.
New Zealand dominated possession from the opening minutes and kept India under pressureCaptain Chris Wood had an early opportunity in the ninth minute, but goalkeeper Vishal Kaith collected his effort comfortably.
The hosts eventually broke the deadlock in the 22nd minuteCallum McCowatt delivered a corner from the left, and Finn Surman rose inside the box to head the ball into the netIndia’s defence struggled to deal with New Zealand’s attacking moves, with Kaith making several important interventions to prevent further goals.
However, the goalkeeper could not stop the hosts from extending their advantage before half-timeJames McGarry made it 2-0 in the 40th minute after getting on the end of Owen Parker-Price’s passThree minutes later, Chris Wood added the third goal, finishing from close range after a move involving Matthew Garbett and Jesse Randall.
Jamil made three changes at half-time, bringing on Bijoy Varghese, Pramveer and debutant goalkeeper Hrithik TiwariThe latter was immediately tested and made a good save in the 55th minute to deny McCowatt before collecting another attempt from Francis De Vries.
India looked more organised after the break and managed to spend more time on the ballJamil made further changes just before the hour mark, introducing Lalrinliana Hnamte, Muhammad Suhail, Liston Colaco and Tomba Singh Haobam in an attempt to improve the team’s attacking play.
However, clear-cut chances remained difficult to come byIndia’s best opportunity came in the 81st minute when Tomba Singh and Hnamte combined to release Liston ColacoThe winger attempted a long-range effort but sent the ball over the crossbar.
New Zealand also came close to scoring a fourth in the 86th minuteLachlan Bayliss made his way into the penalty area and set up Alex Rufer, whose header was heading towards goal before Bijoy Varghese produced an important goal-line clearance.
India managed to avoid conceding again, but could not find a consolation goal as New Zealand comfortably saw out the contest.
The defeat means India finished their November international friendly series in New Zealand without scoring a goal across the two matches, while conceding eight.
The Blue Tigers had lost the opening encounter 0-5 in Auckland, where Jesse Randall scored twice, while Chris Wood, Lachlan Bayliss and an own goal from Bijoy Varghese completed the scoring.
