Hockey India League Highlights, Team Gonasika 5-6 Tamil Nadu Dragons: Karthi Stunner Hands TN Thrilling Win

The match will begin at 6pm IST at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. It will be live telecast on DD Sports, Sony Sports 1, Sony Sports 3 and Sony Sports 4 TV channels in India. It will be live streamed on the Sony Liv app and website and the OTT app Waves in India.

Here's how Team Gonasika and Tamil Nadu Dragons line up, ahead of pushback in Rourkela:

The two teams are out in the middle, waving to the spectators as they are introduced. India mainstays Mandeep Singh and Amit Rohidas, the two captains, greet the dignitaries ahead of the start. The national anthem is played, as is customary before all HIL games. And play gets underway. Tamil Nadu Dragons attacking from right to left in the first half, and Team Gonasika from left to right.

The promising young forward Araijeet Singh Hundal has grabbed this game by the scruff of its neck. He first slots in a thundering strike from the edge of the Dragons circle to put Gonasika ahead in the fifth minutes. Barelt two minutes later, he pounces on another opportunity, meeting Timothee Clement's cross perfectly to tap the ball in and double the Gonasika lead.

The Dragons strike back at the stroke of the first quarter end. Abharan Sudev converts as Tamil Nadu try a variation for a penalty corner, and the scoreline reads 2-1 in favour of Gonasika, going into the second quarter.

The Dragons' star drag-flicker Jip Janssen joins the party. He converts a PC injection superbly in the 19th minute to bring the match back on level terms at 2-2.

The second quarter ends, and we are all level, heading into the interval. The Dragons have done really well to bounce back from an early 0-2 deficit, and it remains to be seen which way the match swings from here. Stay tuned for the third quarter.

The second half is underway. The Dragons now attacking from left to right, and Gonasika hence from right to left. The ball is in the Dragons half in the early exchanges, with Gonasika eyeing the lead again. But Tamil Nadu resist, for now.

Jip Janssen has lifted the Dragons from a 0-2 deficit to a 3-2 lead. The ace drag-flicker gets his second goal of the evening to put Tamil Nadu in front in the third quarter. This game seems to be shaping up as a thriller, so buckle up.

The twists and turns continue. Nikkin Thimmaiah scores, as Gonasika come right back in it with an equaliser. The scoreline now reads 3-3, with one full quarter and change still remaining.

The goals keep coming at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium. We have nine goals in, with five minutes still to go in the fourth and final quarter. The Dragons and Gonasika keep fighting back after their opponent's strike. Jip Janssen completed a well-deserved hat-trick, and teammate Nathan Ephraums put the icing on the cake with a goal of his own. The scoreline is 5-4 in favour of Tamil Nadu now. Can Gonasika force another equaliser and a penalty shootout?

What a game we have just been treated to. An absolute banger of a match ends in pulsating fashion, as Blake Govers conjures a brilliant goal-line save to deny Gonasika a last-gasp penalty corner goal. The hooter rings out soon after, and Tamil Nadu Dragons win it by the skin of their teeth. After an exhilarating goal rush, right till the end, it is Karthi Selvam's stunning finish minutes away from the end which swings it in TN's favour by a slender 6-5 margin. A hat-trick from Jip Janssen set it all up for them.