WSH: Adrian stars as Marines deny Cheetahs place in SF

A brilliant display by goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza enabled Mumbai Marines beat Chennai Cheetahs 4-1 and end their campaign on a winning note in the World Series Hockey at MHA stadium in Mumbai on Friday.

Adrian brought off at least eight brilliant saves, including six from penalty-corners, to dash Chennai's hopes, as they needed to win the match to deny Pune Strykers the last berth in the semis.

Xess Banmali, Ajmer Singh, Troy Sutherland and Aijub Ekka scored for Mumbai Marines while Pakistan star Imran Warsi reduced the margin for the Chennai side, finally beating Adrian off Chennai's ninth and final penalty-corner at the fag end of the match, when the score was 3-1.

The first semi-final will see toppers Chandigarh Comets taking on Pune Strykers in Bangalore, while the second semi-final will be between Sher-e-Punjab and Karnataka Lions in Mumbai, both matches on Sunday.

The final is in Mumbai on April 2.

Earlier, Delhi Wizards ended their campaign on a high, beating Sher-e-Punjab 7-5 to finish sixth in the table.

Captain Shakeel Abassi scored the 300th goal of the WSH. He inspired the Wizards with three goals (38th, 43rd & 61st minute), while Vivek Gupta (29th & 54th min), Victor Singh (13th), Rajpal Singh (57th) added to the team's tally.

For Shers, Prabhjot Singh struck thrice (31st, 67th & 68th minute) while Gagandeep Singh (8th) Karmjit Singh (53rd) scored once each.

With 19 points, the Wizards moved to sixth position, ahead of Bhopal Badshahs and Mumbai Marines, who placed last in the eight-team league.