Melbourne: Olympic silver medalists Netherlands outplayed Pakistan 5-2 to enter the Champions Trophy final after six years. The Dutch, eight-time Champions Trophy title winners, dominated the semifinal throughout to surge into the final for the first time since they won the title in 2006 in Spain.
Livewire striker Billy Bakker opened the scoring with a flash strike in the second minute and added another goal in similar manner in the 32nd minute to give Netherlands a 3-1 lead at the interval. Severiano van Ass (20th minute) scored the other Dutch goal in the first session, while Pakistan reduced the lead after Netherlands conceded an own-goal.
Field goals from Valentin Verga (46th minute) and Robbert Kemperman (61th) put the game beyond the reach of Pakistan, who got a consolation goal in the last minute through Shakeel Abbasi. Netherlands now await the winner of the second semifinal between defending champions Australia and India.
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