PTI 
 
Kuala Lumpur, Jun 26: A fine brace by Hari Prasad guided India to a 3-2 win over New Zealand in the playoff for the third place in the 15th Sultan Azlan Shah eight-nation hockey tournament here on Sunday.

It was India's first podium finish since 2000 when they finished third behind Pakistan and Korea.

In a hard-fought game, India, who led 2-1 at the break, found their star in Hari Prasad who scored twice in the 8th and 35th minutes while drag-flick specialist Sandeep Singh converted a penalty corner in the 43rd that proved to be the match-winner.

The Black Sticks stayed in the match right through after Simon Child put them ahead in the 7th minute and Hayden Shaw found the mark from a 39th minute penalty corner to put his team on level terms.

The Indians also owed their victory to goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza who stopped at least four clear goals and also wing half-backs V S Vinaya (right) and Prabhodh Tirkey (left), both of whom had an outstanding game today.

India should have finished the first-half in a far more comfortable position but for some poor finishing by the forwards and also a loss of concentration by the deep defence.

The Indians repeatedly breached the fragile Kiwi defence only to break down inside the striking circle due to wrong passing or positional play.

In the sixth minute, Arjun Halappa pounced on a deflection and fired the ball onto the boards. Even though TV replays showed that the ball was inside the striking circle, Korean umpire Jung Min Jang disallowed the goal saying the hit was not taken from inside the D.