Indian women's football team ride on Ratanbala Devi's hattrick to beat Indonesia in first of two international friendlies

Jakarta: A second-half hat-trick by Ratanbala Devi helped the Indian women’s team beat Indonesia 3-0 in the first of their two friendly matches in Jakarta on Sunday. The Indian women’s team has been preparing for the Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 and will face Indonesia again on 30 January. [caption id=“attachment_5971261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Indian women’s football team beat Indonesia 3-0 in Jakarta. Image Courtesy: Twitter/@IndianFootball[/caption] Coming on the back of successive wins against Hong Kong, the Indian women put up a dominating performance against Indonesia, with Ratanbala Devi finding the back of the net thrice. India got several scoring chances in the first half but could not convert anyone of them. In the 20th minute, India had a golden opportunity to take the lead but Sandhiya failed to find the net from close range. In the 31st minute, India were denied by the woodwork after an attempt from outside the box left the Indonesian defence clueless. The Indian women kept their attacking momentum going in the second half. Dalima Chhibber’s shot from outside the box went inches over the Indonesian goal. India’s incessant efforts finally paid off in the 67th minute when Ratanbala blasted the ball into the back of the net by beating the opposition custodian at her near post to hand India the lead. Three minutes later she scooped in the ball once more into the net after getting past the defence to make it 2-0. Ratanbala Devi completed her hat-trick in the 78th minute when she took a touch inside the box and slammed the ball into the net to make the scoreline 3-0.