Rampant New Zealand hammers Pakistan 6-2 to retain FIH Nations Cup

New Zealand retained the FIH Men’s Hockey Nations Cup title after a ruthless and dominant 6-2 win over Pakistan in the final at the National Hockey Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The victory also put the Kiwis in the FIH Pro League.

Scott Cosslett struck two while Sam Hiha, Dylan Thomas, Sean Findlay and Scott Boyed scored one goal apiece for the Kiwis.

Zikriya Hayat and Sufyan Khan struck for Pakistan. New Zealand came all guns blazing from the onset, with two of their goals getting disallowed nearly two minutes into the game after Pakistan’s reviews were successful.

In the sixth minute, the Black Caps got a short corner but failed to capitalize and they were given another on which Cosslett managed a fantastic goal to his team 1-0 ahead.

In the seventh minute, New Zealand were awarded a penalty stroke later converted to a shot corner after Pakistan’s review, and goalkeeper Muneeb-ur-Rehman made a super save.

In the ninth minute, Ahmed Nadeem had a chance to level the game but he failed the right connect. In the last minute of the first quarter, Elmus fed Sam Hiha in the area and smashed it smartly towards the right of the keeper to put Kiwis 2-0 ahead.

In the 17th minute, Muneeb stopped a long pass, but Dylan Thomas was there to put it in the net, helping his team score the third goal. It was complete carnage for the green shirts, as a minute later, Sean Findlay struck the fourth goal. In the 25th minute, Pakistan were awarded a short corner but it was reversed after a successful review from the Kiwis.

In the 27th minute, New Zealand struck their fifth goal when Scott Boyde hit it on the rebound. Pakistan challenged it but video referral showed it a clear goal.

However, from the third quarter, Pakistan should fight and grit with some inflicting but failed to level things against a well-marked Black Caps defense.

The Men in Green unsettled the Kiwis through incisive rallies from both cordons and in the 36th minute, Zikriya Hayat opened the account for Pakistan with a fine field goal.

At that stage, Pakistan got four successive short corners but failed to score. In the 42nd minute, Ghazanfar Ali claimed a short corner for Pakistan but Abdul Rahman's smash went over the goalpost.

A minute later New Zealand got two successive penalty corners and on the last one, Abdullah made a good save. At the end of the third quarter, Pakistan were trailing 1-5.

In the 51st minute, Hannan Shahid created a fine chance but failed to finish it. In the last four and a half minutes, Pakistan played with ten men as Zikriya Hayat was shown a yellow card.

In the 58th minute, Cosslett struck again on the short corner to stretch New Zealand's lead to 6-1. A minute before the final hooter, drag-flick specialist Sufyan Khan struck on the short corner to score Pakistan’s second goal.