Hockey Karnataka fought back from a two-goal deficit to hold Punjab National Bank (PNB) to a 2-2 draw in a Pool-A match of the 97th All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament at the SDAT Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Saturday.

PNB dominated with its raids in the first half, but Karnataka showed greater purpose after the break to claw its way back into the contest.

Neeraj put PNB ahead in the 14th minute with an impressive individual effort. Winning the ball from an opponent near the left sideline, he beat and dribbled past two Karnataka players and closed in on goal before slotting the ball past goalkeeper K.K. Tharun Ganapathy.

Gursimran Singh doubled PNB’s lead in the 16th minute, converting a penalty corner with a drag-flick. Though Tharun intercepted the effort, he could not keep it out.

Karnataka began its recovery in the 32nd minute through a well-coordinated move. Maji Ganesh found Bhrath Mahalingappa Kurtakot, who directed the ball for C.J. Rahul to finish.

G. Vishwas completed Karnataka’s comeback in the 52nd minute. The side had chances to snatch victory, winning two penalty corners in the final three minutes, but failed to convert either.

The results: Pool-A: Punjab National Bank 2 (Neeraj 14, Gursimran Singh 16-pc) drew with Hockey Karnataka 2 (C.J. Rahul 32, G. Vishwas 52).

Pool-B: Indian Navy 5 (Rajat Sharma 15, Ashis Topno 35-pc, Nitesh 38, Sundra Pandi 58, K. Selvaraj 60) bt SAI-NCOE Bhopal 2 (Mohammed Zaid Khan 26, Bhrat Kaushik 59).