After playing their hearts out in their last group game against England on Thursday, the Indian women’s hockey team had the most difficult task at hand — facing the Netherlands.For most parts, they did just enough to keep the Dutch at bay in their first game of the second round. In the end, though, they couldn’t deny the hosts their fourth win of the tournament. Eyeing a fourth successive World Cup title, the Netherlands bagged a 2-0 win in front of their home fans in Amstelveen on Friday, with Yibbi Jansen and Frédérique Matla scoring the two goals — both coming from the penalty corners.However, despite the loss, the Indians must be complimented for putting up another good performance against all odds. Considering they were playing less than 24 hours after the England match, the performance was even more commendable.Overall, the hosts won nine penalty corners, had 22 shots on goal, 35 circle entries and nearly 60% possession. Yet they could score just twice, which tells you a lot about how India defended. Most importantly, thanks to China and Australia playing out a 1-1 draw in the other Pool E match, India still have a chance to make it to the semifinals.On Friday, though, they defended in numbers, didn’t panic and didn’t make it easy for the World No. 1 side. India even had a couple of penalty corners in the second quarter and two good chances from open play. Sadly, they couldn’t take their opportunities.Deepika took both penalty corners, but on each occasion the Dutch rusher managed to block the attempt. As for the open-play chances, Salima Tete wasted the first opportunity when she fired her shot high over the post in the first quarter.Then Sunelita Toppo had a great chance in the third quarter after India went on the counter following a Dutch penalty corner. But Sunelita’s final shot lacked power and was easily kept out by Dutch goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal with her left foot.With less than two minutes left, Navneet Kaur also had a shot at goal, but her powerful effort went straight into the helmet of the Dutch goalkeeper.The two Indian goalkeepers — Savita Punia and Bichu Devi Kharibam — meanwhile made some exceptional saves throughout the game to deny the Dutch a bigger win. Things could have been even better had India been able to keep the ball for longer and made more of their chances.Speaking during the half-time break, coach Sjoerd Marijne said: “I think we can do better in terms of ball possession. We’re losing the ball too quickly, so we need to keep it a little longer within the team. Defensively, we’re happy with the way we’re positioned. Against the Netherlands, you will always give up chances, but I think so far, they are getting into positions that we can still manage.”In the end, India did manage to keep the Netherlands to just two goals. Now, all eyes will be on Sunday, when India face Australia with a place in the semifinals still within reach.