HIL 5: Kalinga down Punjab in high-scoring thriller

New Delhi: Kalinga Lancers survived an inspired fight back from Jaypee Punjab Warriors to notch up their fourth win in the Hockey India League Season 5 in Bhubaneswar on Friday. The 6-5 win propelled Kalinga to the top of the standings with 20 points from six games, dislodging Dabang Mumbai, who have 18.

It was Punjab’s second loss in three matches, pegging them back to fifth with five points from three matches.

Glenn Turner put Kalinga 2-0 up in the 11th minute. They were on the ascendancy in the first quarter, going up 3-0 three minutes after the restart through skipper Moritz Fuerste, who also scored 10 minutes later to make it 4-0.

Kalinga consolidated their position through S.K. Uthappa’s 32nd minute strike. Mark Gleghorne started Punjab’s turnaround, reducing the deficit to 6-2 in the 34th. Satbir Singh capitalised on a partial clearance from a penalty corner to make it 6-3 in the 35th.

Mink van der Weerden then made it 6-4 in the 52nd and Armaan Qureshi reduced it even further in the 57th to leave Kalinga fretting by the time the hooter blew.