A late double by Nepal forward Sabitra Bhandari meant the India women’s team had to settle for a 2-2 draw in a friendly game at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Wednesday.
Bhandari, who was a constant threat to the Indian defence, secured a hard-fought draw for her side in the injury time with a rasping run through the middle and a calm finish.
The Blue Tigresses opened the scoring in the 56th minute, with Manisha Kalyan setting up fellow half-time substitute Soumya Guguloth at the back post with a cross from the left wing. The Dinamo Zagreb attacker finished it first-time to gift India its first goal of 2023.
Captain Indumathi Kathiresan doubled the lead soon with a confident finish inside the box after Karthika Angamuthu found her with a chipped pass.
Bhandari, Nepal’s all-time top scorer, sparked the comeback in the last minute of regulation time with a goal from the spot, after Indian defender Sweety Devi handled the ball inside the box.
The game had begun tepidly, with both sides taking time to settle in. The first piece of action came in the 10th minute when Indian goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan was forced to claw the ball away from the feet of an onrushing Bhandari after she had parried it into the path of the Nepali forward from a long-range shot.
Unfortunately, Chauhan injured herself in the process and had to be replaced with Elangbam Panthoi Chanu.
Indian forward Bala Devi had a gilt-edged chance to break the deadlock in the 33rd minute after she rounded Nepal goalkeeper Anjila Subba and had an open goal at her mercy.
But the newly-announced Odisha FC player was ably intercepted by retreating Nepal defender Gita Rana, keeping the score goalless.
India turned on the heat in the second half, with its strength from the bench helping it into what seemed like a comfortable lead before Bhandari came up with a quick-fire double at the end.
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