England's bid for a first Hockey World Cup podium finish in 32 years began with a 2-2 draw with China in Bhubaneswar, India.
Danny Kerry’s side fell behind within five minutes but Mark Gleghorne soon levelled terms and Liam Ansell fired home a fourth-quarter stunner to establish a 2-1 lead.
Mere moments separated them from opening-game victory – Du Talake poached a late leveller, but there were plenty of positives to take along with the point in Pool B.
Captain Barry Middleton said: "It was tough. We largely controlled the game in the way we wanted to.
"We’ve got a few things to work on around the D and they took their chances.
"We wanted to win. It came down to detail around the D – they made it count.”
After a finely-balanced opening stage, China took a surprise lead when Guo Xiaoping went on a mazy dribble down the byline and flicked an effort past George Pinner into the far corner.
England’s intensity immediately increased and they created a couple of openings in the first quarter, coming closest when David Condon - part of the Team GB squad for Rio 2016 - saw his reverse hit acrobatically saved.
The leveller came on 14 minutes when Kerry’s side forced a short corner and Gleghorne dragged his shot, too powerful for the outstretched boot of the Chinese keeper, into the bottom left corner.
The lead came under significant pressure and England were shorthanded when Gleghorne was shown a green card, but they stoutly defended successive penalty corners to break at 1-1.
Condon came close again in the third quarter, timing his run perfectly to fire a cutback on goal, but the effort was parried to safety.
By the fourth England were dominant and Ansell bagged the eventual winner, stealthily robbing a ponderous defender and slapping home emphatically on reverse stick.
The scoreline could so easily have been more emphatic and only the width of the crossbar came between Phil Roper and a third goal.
Late penalty corners always spell danger and England weren’t able to hold onto their lead as Du’s flick slipped through a forest of bodies into the left-hand corner.
England have finished fourth in the last two editions of the tournament - at The Hague in 2014 and at Delhi in 2010 - and will aim to go one better this time round and claim a first medal since 1986.
World number one side Australia are next up on Tuesday at 11.30am (BST) while the group is completed by Ireland.