(Photo: Hockey India)

NEW DELHI: India kept their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the FIH Women's Hockey World Cup alive on Sunday as captain Rani Rampal 's goal earned her team the all-important draw against USA to make it to the play-offs that will decide the last four quarter-finalists.

ALSO READ: India vs USA - as it happened

India needed at least a draw in their third and last league match to finish among top three in Pool B as both the teams had one point from a draw and a defeat in their previous two matches.

Ireland progressed directly to quarter-finals from Pool B having confirmed their position as No.1, while England and India will feature in the crossover matches. The result of England's match against Ireland later will decide the second and third position in the pool between the hosts and India.

USA took the lead through Margaux Paolino in the 11th minute of the match and held onto it at half-time.

India, having wasted four penalty corners before half-time, scored off their fifth set-piece in the 31st minute when Rani decided to shoulder the responsibility and beat US goalkeeper Jackie Briggs off a direct hit.

But Rani started on a scary note having twisted her left ankle just three minutes into the match. Fortunately, though, it proved nothing serious as the skipper returned to the pitch later in the first quarter. By then, India had conceded a goal and earned three penalty corners, but Gurjit Kaur's flicks couldn't find the mark.

US goalkeeper Briggs had a great game and saved Rani's first direct attempt off India's fourth penalty corner in the second quarter. India then suffered another setback when they lost their referral against a penalty corner awarded to the Americans. But India managed to keep danger at bay and went into half-time trailing by a solitary goal.

It was a different Indian team that came out in the third quarter and quickly found the equaliser through their skipper.

India tried a variation off their sixth and last penalty corner, when Rani played a dummy and Gurjit took the flick, but a brilliant right-handed save from Briggs kept India from taking lead.

In the 50th minute, Navjot got a good look at the US goal and tried a reverse hit but the shot was blocked by an American stick and the ball went sailing over the crossbars.

As Rani pointed out after the match, Indian defence, which has been the highlight of team's campaign so far, held firm in the last 10 minutes to earn a well-deserved draw.

"Both the teams fought well. Credit goes to us to hold them in the last quarter. USA got their chances, but our defence held firm. However, we should have scored 2-3 goals," the skipper said in her post-match interview.

