The New Zealand men's hockey team beat Malaysia 2-1 in the opening game of their three match series in Kuala Lumpur.
image:147704:full] New Zealand players celebrate a goal.
The series is a warm-up to the World Cup which starts in India at the end of the month.
Two minutes into the game Stephen Jenness scored to put the Sticks up 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter Dominic Newman beat a defender on the baseline and then crossed a ball to Aidan Sarikaya who slotted home a deflection to push the Black Sticks lead to 2-nil.
Malaysia continued to fight and were rewarded just before the half with a penalty stroke to Faizal Saari which made it 2-1 at half-time.
With five minutes to go and the game still very much in the balance Malaysia looked to play an attacking move and pulled their keeper looking to push for the equalising goal.
The hosts nearly equalised however Nick Ross pulled off a goal line save as the Black Sticks held on to win 2-1.
