Pakistan scored a last-gasp goal to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat against New Zealand in a Pool 'B' match of the 15th Sultan Azlan Shah eight-nation hockey tournament, in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Trailing 2-3 till the 69th minute, Pakistan were saved by a penalty-corner goal by Imran Warsi just before the hooter. The draw enabled them to share the top spot in the pool with the Kiwis, with four points apiece.
The result meant that the Netherlands, who beat Argentina 4-1 in another match, were pushed to third spot with three points.
In a match of fluctuating fortunes, the Kiwis took the lead in the sixth minute when Hayden Shaw converted a penalty-corner, but Pakistan equalised in the 10th minute also from a penalty-corner through Muhammad Imran.
On change of ends, the Kiwis regained the initiative as Shea Mcaleese found the board with an indirect conversion in the 37th minute while the Pakistanis equalised yet again when Mohammad Saqlain flicked home a penalty stroke in the 44th.
Past the 66th minute, Ben Collier made it 3-2 with a rasping drive from top of the circle following a right-wing move. With less than a minute left, Pakistan forced their fourth penalty-corner and Imran Warsi's drive got deflected into the net.
As manager Shahid Ali Khan said, Pakistan indeed were lucky to come away with one point, but the Kiwis have themselves to blame for dropping two crucial points due to their sloppy work in the defence in the final minutes.
The Netherlands finally found their touch and flow as they turned back a 0-1 first-half deficit to run up a fluent 4-1 win against Argentina in a pool B match.
Having lost their first game 2-3 to Pakistan, the Dutch appeared heading for another defeat when Argentina, who had gone down 2-3 to New Zealand, went 1-0 ahead on a Matias Vila penalty-corner conversion in the ninth minute and maintained their lead until the 53rd.
The Dutch, hitherto lethargic, dramatically bounced back and scored thrice in a six-minute spell through Rob Reckers (53rd), Roger Hofman (57th) and Teun de Nooijer (59th) before rounding off the day with Ronald Brouwer finding the net in the 70th minute after Geert-Jan Derikx missed a penalty-stroke in the 64th.
Argentina were hopelessly outplayed in the latter part of the second-half, but yet, could have made a match of it had not Mario Almada bungled twice in front of the goal.
All the Dutch goals came from brilliant counter-attacks, with veteran Teun de Nooijer playing a lead role.
The famed speed and slick positional play of the Dutch was in evidence as they tore apart the Argentine defence for a well-deserved victory.
