Starting their campaign in style, Maratha Warriors thrashed Chennai Veerans 4-1 in a one-sided match of the Premier Hockey League in Chandigarh on Friday.
Pakistan import Rehan Butt displayed scintillating stick work to score a brace for the Warriors which sealed the fate of the Veerans.
Veerans faltered against the combination of Butt, Bharat Chikara and Shivendra Singh as the trio made sveral attacks on the rivals goal.
The only consolation for the Veerans was a goal by dragflicker Raghunath through a penalty corner in the second half of the game.
The margin of victory could have been different had Chikara and Shivendra not missed a number of chances.
At the lemon break, Warriors were comfortably placed by 2-0.
The Warriors took the lead in the 19th minute of the game when Butt put the ball in through a reverse hit. Three minutes later, Chikara scored field goal to make it 2-0.
However, Veerans combined well in the second half and earned its first penalty corner, which was successfully converted by dragflicker Raghunath to reduce the margin.
Butt scored the third goal and Shivendra made amends to net the fourth goal in the third quarter.