Pakistani imports were on target as Hyderabad Sultans beat Maratha Warriors 2-1 to earn their first points in the Premier Hockey League in Chennai on Tuesday night.
All the goals scored in the match, at the Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium, came from Pakistani players.
While Shakeel Abbasi scored in the 30th and 55th minutes for the Sultans, Maratha Warriors found the target through Imran Warsi in the 45th minute.
The Pakistani pair of Tariq Aziz and Abbasi were instrumental in breaking the deadlock on the half-hour mark.
Aziz's well-schemed forward pass was accepted by Abbasi, who moved in before dodging goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza and sounding the board.
However, Warriors were on level terms within 15 minutes through Warsi, who struck through a penalty-corner.
His scoop hit the top of the netting on the left of custodian Devesh Chauhan, the Sultans skipper.
The match became livelier from then on but neither side could find the mark and wasted a penalty-corner each.
Abbasi threatened to score but his powerful drive from the right was well-saved by D'Souza.
The rebound was taken by Dutchman Sabestian Wester but the defenders erred in conceding a penalty-corner.
There was a melee after the shot was taken and the ball moved from right to left before coming back to Abbasi, who grabbed the opportunity to divert the ball into an unattended net.
The Warriors did try their best to restore parity but their third penalty-corner was wasted and the match saw heated arguments between the two teams.
Umpire Pradhan Kariappa could not calm down the players but finally dished out yellow cards to Gaurav Tokhi (Warriors) and Saranjit Singh (Sultans).
