New Delhi:
Reigning silver medalists Pakistan began their Commonwealth Games campaign in style, outclassing a lowly Scotland 3-0 in a pool A match of the men's hockey event at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Eighth-ranked Pakistan proved too good for Scotland with strikes from Shakeel Abbasi (20th minute), Rehan Butt (25th) and Muhammad Imran (43rd).
As expected, Pakistan dominated the match from the onset with better ball possession and strikes at goal while Scotland rarely threatened their opponents.
If not for goalkeeper Alister McGregor, Scotland would have trailed by not less than fours goals in the opening-half.
The Scottish custodian on two occasions saved his side from going down - first padding away Rehan Butt's fierce strike from top of the circle and then saving a Muhammad Imran's low flick to the right of his goal from Pakistan's first penalty corner.
In between, an unmarked Muhammad Waqas wasted another golden opportunity but with only the Scottish goalkeeper to beat, his shot from top of the circle went high over the bar.
Pakistan finally broke the deadlock in the 25th minute through hardworking Abbasi, who scored with a reverse Haseem reverse hit after he was fed by Haseem Abdul Khan.
Five minutes later, Pakistan doubled their scoreline when experienced striker Butt found the back of the Scottish net.
The initial stage of the second-half was no different as Pakistan started attacking from the word go.
Eight minutes after the break, Imran made it 3-0 for Pakistan scoring with a low drag-flick from their first short corner of the half.
Down 0-3, Scotland finally woke up with some quick attacks on the opponent goal but the Pakistani defence stood tall to thwart their attempts.
Pakistan will play Malaysia in their second pool tomorrow while Scotland will be up against world champions Australia.
Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf said the team had put behind their World Cup disappointment and they were determined for a better performance in the Delhi Games.
"World Cup was a bad performance from us but it is past now. We are hoping to better our performance here," Zeeshan said at the post-match press conference.
"Lot of changes happened in the team after the World Cup. We have some new players coming in and also a new coach. We will try to give our best effort in the coming tough matches against Australia and India," he said.
He also said the team had to improve upon a few areas before the crucial encounters, saying: "We need to work on our finishing and defence."
Meanwhile, in earlier Pool B matches of the day, England defeated Wales 4-1, while New Zealand thrashed Trinidad and Tobago 7-1.