Chennai, Sep 5 (IANS) Karnataka XI’s brave fightback went in vain as they lost 4-5 to Mumbai XI in a pool A match of the All-India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey tournament here Friday.

Karnataka XI were down 1-4 before they scripted a comeback but finally ran out of time.

Mumbai heaved a sigh of relief after surviving a punishing game that was rather scrappy in nature with neither side able to establish any sort of dominance.

With the exchanges swinging fast from end to end, the rival defenders had a trying time and the nine goals scored in 70 minutes underlined the pressure they were under.

For Mumbai, Osaf-ur Rehman topped with three goals while V Khulbhushan converted two penalty corners.

Karnataka replied through Somanna, who converted two penalty corners, and former international Sandeep Michael (2).

Later, fancied Air India, a team that included players from erstwhile Indian Airlines, following the merger of the two organisations, barely survived against Bharat Petroleum and were held to a goalless draw in a pool B game.

Air India, who had beaten Army XI 4-1 last night in their opening fixture, gave a poor account of themselves with none of the India players in their ranks looking anywhere near their best.

In contrast, BPCL contained a bunch of former internationals spearheaded by 1994 World Cup player Sabu Varkey, and most of them seemed to be playing from memory.

Consequently, the much of the exchanges were restricted to the midfield and the odd foray into the circle was unproductive.

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