Indian women’s hockey team on Friday came up with a much improved performance to crush Malaysia 4-1 and get their Commonwealth Games campaign back on track after the unexpected reversal in their tournament opener in Pool A.

(For more updates from day two, read our live blog here.)

The Rani Rampal side had lost their group stage opener against Wales 2-3 on Thursday and needed full points from their second outing to stay in contention. And the Asian champions ensured that their were no hiccups this time around as they scored three goals in the second half to complete the tally.

The Indians began on the front foot with Vandana Kataria bagging their first penalty corner in the very first minute and when Gurjit Kaur converted the third with a drag flick, it looked like the Indians could register a big win.

However, unhappy with the lack of coordination between the midfield and defence in the opening game, coach Harendra Singh seemed to have clearly told the team to keep moving the ball among themselves and farm possession in the opening quarter.

While the Indian team followed those instructions well, they were guilty of not finding the finishing touch inside the striking circle and that allowed the Malaysians to find their feet as they managed to restrict their opponents to just one goal till the half time.

And it looked like the 2002 CWG gold medallists could once again pay for their profligacy when Nuraini Rashid found the equaliser through a penalty corner in the 38th minute.

However, the Malaysians were still in celebration mode when India launched a quick attack and Gurjit converted yet another penalty corner to restore the team’s advantage.

India were clearly the dominant side in the fourth quarter with Vandana Kataria, Poonam Rani, Neha Goyal and Lilima Minz launching attacks from both flanks.

And their efforts bore fruit when Goyal made a brilliant run from the right to dribble past two defenders and then passed the ball to an unmarked Rampal to tap the ball home in the 56th minute.

Three minutes later, Lalremsiami rounded off the score with a quick one-two with Katariya one minute from time to also improve India’s goal difference.