Railways rout Hyderabad XI

Striking late in the second half, after a goalless first session, Railways beat Hyderabad XI 6-1 in a Pool D match in the 79th MCC Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament in Madras on Thursday.

Hyderabad defenders, Rami Reddy and Manoj Singh, caved in under pressure and allowed Railways' S Barla to score five goals, including a hat-trick.

Hyderabad's only goal was scored by Anand Ratnakumar, who converted a penalty-stroke in the 60th minute.

J R Natarajan completed the rout for Railways, scoring from a penalty-stroke in the last minute.

In another match, Punjab Police held Karnataka XI to a 2-2 draw.

After a goalless first session, Punjab Police took the lead two minutes into the second session when Baljit S Bhullar converted a penalty-corner.

Karnataka equalised in the 53rd minute through a brilliant goal by Lakshman Rao and forced a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute through another smart goal, this time by S Vinay Kumar.

However, the sturdy Punjab cops, who were under pressure, owed the day to Baljit Bhullar, who converted the team's ninth penalty-corner to enable them take a point from the match.

On Wednesday, Hyderabad XI were beaten 1-4 by Tamil Nadu XI in the inaugural match of the tournament.