KEY POINTS:
New Zealand got off to a flyer in the Sultan Azlan Shah international men's tournament with a come-from-behind 4-3 win over India at Ipoh, Malaysia.
Down 2-0 in the first 20 minutes after two penalty corner goals from India, New Zealand fought back.
They were rewarded in the 21st minute when they earned their only penalty corner of the match.
With Hayden Shaw off the field at the time, Andy Hayward stepped up to convert the corner. And just on the stroke of halftime, Simon Child deflected home a cross to equalise 2-2.
India had some good opportunities in the opening minutes before the Black Sticks started to dominate. Phil Burrows scored with classic reverse stick strike 10 minutes into the half and then Casey Henwood put a neat pass through to Gareth Brooks to score for a 4-2 lead.
India pulled the score back to 4-3 with Sandeep Singh completing a hat trick with another penalty corner.
New Zealand team manager Kevin Marr said the side were pretty pleased with the all-round performance, given the absence of injured skipper Ryan Archibald.
"It's a good start for us in tournament."
India, ranked ninth in the world, failed to qualify for this year's Olympics in Beijing.
- NZPA
