India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup hockey Super 4, highlights: IND thrash PAK 4-0, enter final

After a goalless first half, Satbir Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay and Gurjant Singh scored one each to help India thrash Pakistan 4-0 in their final Super 4 game of Asia Cup hockey in Dhaka on Saturday. Thereby India entered the final of the continental tournament as the toppers of Super 4 with seven points. They had also topped Pool A before entering the Super 4 stage. India only needed a draw to qualify for Sunday’s final but made sure they kept their track record intact against Pakistan in 2017. The Manpreet Singh-led team will take on either defending champions South Korea or Malaysia in the final at Dhaka’s Moulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium. Get highlights of India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup hockey here. (LIVE STREAMING INFO)

20:20 hrs IST: Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Join us again tomorrow.

20:18 hrs IST: Two-time winners India will take on either defending champions South Korea or Malaysia in the final on Sunday

20:15 hrs IST: What match this was! India now enter the final as the toppers of Super 4

20:12 hrs IST: Time is up and India have won 4-0!

20:09 hrs IST: Pakistan are totally demoralised now! Defence has broken!

20:07 hrs IST: Wait! Gurjant has scored too! It is 4-0 in favour of India!

20:06 hrs IST: India will enter the final unbeaten

20:04 hrs IST: India have completely dominated the second half so far! And they will top the Super 4 stage irrespective of the result of the next match!

20:02 hrs IST: Now Lalit Upadhyay has scored for India! Within a minute! Wow!

20:00 hrs IST: Harmanpreet Singh scores for India! They lead 2-0!

19:59 hrs IST: Ten minutes of action left in this match

19:58 hrs IST: They almost scored another one!

19:57 hrs IST: This is a different India that has turned out for the last quarter! This is some attacking display of hockey

19:56 hrs IST: Grounded flick and brilliant save by the Pakistani goalkeeper

19:55 hrs IST: Another PC for India

19:54 hrs IST: India on the attack now!

19:52 hrs IST: What a start for India! They almost scored another one!

19:51 hrs IST: The last quarter has begun

19:49 hrs IST: End of third quarter and India lead 1-0

19:48 hrs IST: Replays show that Satbir Singh put the ball inside the goal

19:46 hrs IST: Wasted the chance! However, main thing is that India are 1-0 ahead

19:45 hrs IST: PC for India!

19:44 hrs IST: Sardar Singh carried the ball brilliantly and passed it on to Gurjant, who made a dive to push the ball in!

19:42 hrs IST: Gurjant Singh scores in the 39th minute!

19:35 hrs IST: The pace is slowly increasing in this game

19:32 hrs IST: And we are back with the third quarter

19:25 hrs IST: Take a breather. We will be back in some time

19:22 hrs IST: And that is half time and the score reads 0-0!

19:20 hrs IST: OOOOH! Harmanpreet’s PC hit the cross bar! This is the closest chance from either side in this match!

19:19 hrs IST: The Indian team is under pressure here, looking at the way they are giving away opportunities

19:17 hrs IST: And they waste it yet again!

19:16 hrs IST: Another PC for Pakistan!

19:15 hrs IST: The Indian defence has faltered quite often today but Pakistan have been quite solid till now

19:14 hrs IST: Both the teams are just wasting away their chances, not clinging on to them

19:12 hrs IST: Significantly India are still unbeaten in this tournament

19:11 hrs IST: Wow! Still goal-less

19:08 hrs IST: Too much of dribbling! The passing needs to increase!

19:05 hrs IST: The second quarter has begun

19:02 hrs IST: Hooter! Goalless at the end of the first quarter.

19:01 hrs IST: Harmanpreet wastes the chance! Totally wastes it!

19:00 hrs IST: First PC for India, finally!

18:59 hrs IST: And Akash Chikte saves it again!

18:58 hrs IST: Third PC for PAK!

18:57 hrs IST: Chikte saves! The Indian goalie dives to his right and pushes the ball out with the stick in his hand

18:55 hrs IST: Another PC for Pakistan! This is not good defending from India

18:54 hrs IST: Oh that was a good pass forward for India but Pakistan held on

18:53 hrs IST: India maintain possession but are not being able to create the chances

18:50 hrs IST: INDIA save it! That ball almost went in! Pakistan used the variation but were too slow on the take

18:49 hrs IST: Penalty corner for Pakistan!

18:48 hrs IST: Oh! That was quite a run from the Pakistani forwards! But India managed to push the ball outside the D

18:46 hrs IST: Former captain Sardar Singh is quite active today in the midfield

18:45 hrs IST: Quite a slow game this. The pace is lacking and India, too, are playing defensively

18:44 hrs IST: It is quite windy in Dhaka! Who will the wind back?

18:41 hrs IST: PC for India! On no! The referral has gone against them. Status quo

18:40 hrs IST: The match has begun!

18:38 hrs IST: The national anthems have been sung and the match is about to begin!

18:37 hrs IST: The teams are walking out on to the field

18:36 hrs IST: It is 25 degree Celcius and quite windy in Dhaka right now

18:34 hrs IST: Akash Chikte will open as the India keeper today

18:30 hrs IST: The Indian XI has been announced and Manpreet Singh will once again be leading the side

18:27 hrs IST: Apart from India and Pakistan, South Korea is the only team to have won the Asia Cup and they have won it four times, more than anybody else. They are also the defending champions

18:21 hrs IST: Pakistan, on the other hand, have won the event thrice in the past

18:16 hrs IST: India have won the Asia Cup twice in the past

18:11 hrs IST: India had defeated Pakistan 3-1 in the pool stages

18:06 hrs IST: The South Korea vs Malaysia game will be played at 9 pm IST

18:04 hrs IST: India currently top the Super 4 stage with 4 points and are virtually in the final but we will see what happens after the result of the two matches today

18:00 hrs IST: The other Super 4 match is between defending champions South Korea and Malaysia, which too has been delayed due to inclement weather

17:57 hrs IST: The match got delayed due to rain and is likely to start around 1830 hours IST

17:53 hrs IST: Hello and welcome to the live blog of the Asia Cup Super 4 match between India and Pakistan

Pakistan have suffered from poor finishing in international tournaments. A leaky defence has only made matters worse. The green shirts will not only need full points against India but win by at least three goals to enter Sunday’s final.

“But it is going to be easier said than done because I am not happy with how our forwards have performed in this tournament. We have missed many opportunities in the circle and against India we cannot misfire,” said Pakistan coach Farhat Khan. India had beaten Pakistan 3-1 in a group match on October 15.

This is the fourth India vs Pakistan encounter in 2017. Manpreet Singh’s young team has not been beaten even once. Although India have had a change of head coaches -- Roelant Oltmans made way for Sjoerd Marijne in September -- the team has played good attacking hockey after finishing sixth in the Hockey World League semis in London in June.