However, it was South Africa who had the first shot on goal within minutes, and for a moment

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Speaking during the half-time break, Marijne told the broadcaster: “Of course, when you see the score, you can say we are happy with 3-0, but I think it can be more. So that’s something we really need to do better. And I expect more from the team as well. “We’ve seen too many individual errors, and they have had some good opportunities. Hopefully, we can score some more goals. That would be great,” he added. In the end, they did score more goals in the third quarter before taking their foot off the pedal in the fourth, when South Africa finally got a breakthrough of their own.

Sunelita Toppo (11), Navneet Kaur (17), Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam (25), Deepika (38), Lalremsiami (44) and Sakshi Rana (45) scored the goals as India went top of Group D with four points. China, who beat England 4-2 in the other group game earlier, also have four points, but India have a better goal difference. Knowing they needed a big win, Sjoerd Marijne’s side came out all guns blazing, looking for goals from the word go. However, it was South Africa who had the first shot on goal within minutes, and for a moment, it seemed things might not be as easy for India. Towards the end, South Africa did find the net when Kayla de Waal scored following a penalty corner, but by then India knew the job was done. Despite Tuesday’s big win, however, it wasn’t a great game from India’s point of view, particularly in the first half when they were sloppy at times. Too many mis-passes and poor first touches could have been costly and India were fortunate that South Africa did not take advantage of them.

Yet the first-half performance also showed why Marijne wants more from his team. Against England on Thursday, India will need not just the goals but also greater control, discipline and precision if they are to take the next step in their World Cup campaign.