Jalandhar: Sher-E-Punjab continued to maintain their winning rhythm in the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey after defeating Mumbai Marines 2-1 in a tight fought contest.

Though Sher-E-Punjab continue to maintain their winning rhythm in the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey, Mumbai Marines impressed here today, to expose the chinks in the armor of the table leaders.

New hero in their ranks, Bikramjeet Singh struck the first goal and then the invincible Deepak Thakur punched the winner while Hari Prasad posted in between to make a match of it. With 22 points with seven wins and a draw, Shers reaffirmed their top position once again.

Mumbai Marines, in desperate need to improve its sagging fortunes, created vital opportunities early in the play to go up, but lack of precision in the penalty corner drills did not match that urgency. Marines earned two penalty corners within the first five minutes. Devinder Walmiki  took the first but Mathew Hotchiks blocked it in the nick of time, while a bad stop messed up the other. Harpal Singh charged out even as Walmiki was bent on rectifying the stopper’s lapse. Walmiki was again the culprit when he failed with another two in the fag end of the match.

On the other hand, Shers found a new hero in Bikramjit Singh, who struck off the first penalty corner at the closing minutes of first quarter.  He, though, did not show the same venom in his next three attempts he got before half time.   

The unstoppable pair of Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur tore and traversed the Marines shores often, and came close to punch on a couple of occasions, but Adrian was simply in his elements. The Mumbai skipper summoned all his years of expertise when dire need arose again. Thakur fetched a penalty corner after Harpal tripped him on the top of the D. Junior India skipper Harpreet Singh took the shot, which hit Walmiki on the left cage, leading to a stroke award which survived a referral. Adrian dived to his left, taking the stroke on his waist, to give Marines a new lease of life. The emboldened Marines went into top gear, and then on the Shers had to concede supremacy to them.

Hurricane Hari Prasad surged into the circle, took a thundering reverse shot that despite hitting goalie Sukhjeet Singh, took couple of small bounces and found home. This 40th minute equalizer