Women's Hockey World Cup: Uninspiring India eye win against New Zealand to stay in hunt for direct quater-final spot

The Indians, who achieved a historic fourth place finish in last year's Olympics, drew 1-1 against Tokyo bronze medallist England and China in their first two pool matches. The Savita-led side is currently placed third in Pool B with two points below China and leaders New Zealand, who defeated England 3-1 on Tuesday.

Read AlsoIndia register second draw in Women's Hockey World Cup, held 1-1 by China

India were held to a 1-1 draw by China, their second consecutive identical result in Pool B, at the FIH Women's Hockey World Cup. Jiali Zheng gave China the lead in the 26th minute before Vandana Katariya equalised for India in the 45th minute. India drew 1-1 against Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist

According to the tournament format, the 16 teams are divided in four pools of four teams each.The top four sides from each pool will directly qualify for the quarterfinals, while the second and third placed teams will feature in the crossovers. In the crossovers, the second placed team of Pool A will play against third of Pool D and vice versa, while second of Pool B will face third of Pool C and vice versa for the remaining four quarterfinal spots. So, India would look for an outright win against New Zealand and hope for a Chinese draw or a loss against England to top Pool B. But going by the way they played in the first two matches, it would be easier said than done. While the Indian defence has impressed in both the matches, denying England a single penalty corner in the first game, it is the performance of the forwardline and midfield which was found wanting. Barring Vandana Katariya, who scored India's two goals, no other striker could live upto expectations so far with the likes of Lalremsiami, Sharmila Devi and Navneet Kaur