The Indian women's hockey team fought back twice before going down 1-2 in shoot-out against England after both the teams finished 2-2 in regulation time in their FIH Pro League match in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Paige Gillot (40th minute) and Tessa Howard (56th) scored from two penalty corners for England in the regulation timer, while India's goals came from Navneet Kaur (53rd) and Rutuja Dadoso Pisal (57th). Kaur scored off a penalty stroke while Rutuja struck a field goal.
In the shoot-out, only Navneet scored for India while the likes of skipper Salima Tete, Sunelita Toppo and Lalremsiami faltered.
For England, Lily Walker and skipper Sophie Hamilton were on target in the shoot-out.
The win gave England a bonus point. India had earlier defeated England 3-2 in the first leg on Saturday.
The Indian women will next play Spain at the same venue on Tuesday.
England started on an aggressive note, dominating the early exchanges. They enjoyed the ball possession in the first quarter and secured the first penalty corner of the match in the ninth minute but failed to get past experienced Savita Punia in front of Indian goal.
England continued their domination and secured the second penalty corner in the 11th minute but once again failed to breach the Indian defence.
Kaur was by far the best player for India upfront, creating chances for her side with quick incisive runs.
Kaur secured India's first penalty corner in the 16th minute, which resulted in another set piece but England goalkeeper denied Manisha Chauhan from the second attempt.
In the 21st minute, Kaur was once again denied by the English keeper from close range.
A minute later, India earned another penalty corner, but Deepika's flick went wide as both the teams failed to break the deadlock in the first half.
After the change of ends, England had the first chance in the form of another penalty corner in the 38th minute and another two minutes later, which eventually broke the deadlock.
Gillot neatly deflected in a perfect slap shot from skipper Sophie Hamilton to hand England the 1-0 lead.
In the 53rd minute, India secured a penalty stroke for a stick tackle, and Kaur made no mistake from the spot.
Three minutes later, India goalkeeper Savita made a brilliant saved with her extended left leg from a set piece.
But minutes later, England secured another penalty corner and Howard deflected in Hamilton's slap hit.
Soon after the goal, India withdrew goalkeeper Savita for an extra field player and Rutuja scored a brilliant debut goal from Sunelita's pass to draw parity.
Seconds from the final hooter, England secured another penalty corner but India defended stoutly to take the match into the shoot-out.
Spain edge past Germany
Spain secured a narrow 2-1 victory over Germany in an intense contest in the FIH women's Pro League in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
A third-quarter strike from Luciana Molina proved to be the difference as Spain held on to claim full points.
Germany started strongly, with Aina Kresken opening the scoring just over a minute into the game, giving her side an early 1-0 lead.
However, Spain responded before the end of the first quarter, as Sofia Rogoski found the back of the net to level the score.
The second quarter saw a green card issued to Spain's Clara Badia. Both teams struggled to break the deadlock, heading into halftime on level terms.
Spain took the lead in the third quarter when Molina capitalised on an opportunity in the 38th minute, making it 2-1.
Germany's Marta Segu was shown a yellow card later in the quarter, adding to their struggles.
Despite a tense final quarter that saw multiple penalty corners, Spain's defence stood firm to deny Germany an equaliser.
With this win, Spain now have eight points from six matches in the Women's Pro League standings.
China lead the table with 16 points from eight matches, followed by reigning champions the Netherlands with nine points from four matches and Australia, also on eight points, but with four rounds.
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