India continued their dismal performance in the crucial Australia tour, losing 3-1 to Australia on Friday to suffer their fourth consecutive defeat in the five-match Test series in men’s hockey. Contrary to the final result, India’s performance was much improved, but the Kookaburras were simply too strong. In a game that was delayed for 40 minutes due to lightning, all four goals came from the penalty area. India took the lead in the 12th minute through skipper Harmanpreet Singh but a brace from Jeremy Hayward (19th, 47th) and Jack Jack Welch’s (54th) goal gave Australia another series win.
India lost 1-5 in the first Test, and lost 2-4 and 1-2 in the second and third Tests respectively.
The first quarter was interesting, both teams were evenly matched.
Mandeep Singh opened the scoring for India in the opening minute when skipper Harmanpreet received a deep pass from Harmanpreet. (Mandeep Singh) had a shot at the top but was saved by the alert Australian goalkeeper.
Not to be outdone, the Kookaburras won back-to-back corner kicks in the second minute, but India’s veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh performed well under the crossbar and made two saves to keep their opponents at bay.
Unlike the first three games, which relied more on long passes in the air to break through the Australian defense, the Indians cleverly used the midfield to organize the attack through fine passes.
India got their first penalty chance in the 10th minute but Jugraj Singh failed to convert the chance into a goal.
A minute later, Australia got their third penalty corner and then another, but India defended tenaciously.
India took the lead in the 12th minute when Harmanpreet fired a low shot to the left of the goalkeeper for the second corner.
Trailing by a goal, the Kookaburra put relentless pressure on the Indians and tied the game in the 19th minute with a powerful shot from Hayward’s fifth corner kick.
Soon, India’s Rajkumar Pal’s reverse shot from the top of the arc hit the post.
A few minutes later, Australia were awarded their sixth penalty opportunity, but substitute goalkeeper Suraj Karkera made a superb save to keep the game alive.
There was no gap between the two teams in the first half, and both teams were fighting tenaciously.
A few minutes after the change of pitch, India got another chance at a penalty kick, but Harmanpreet failed to break through the Australian defence.
After that, the two sides fell into a midfield melee. Neither the Indian team nor the Australian team seemed to be in the mood to give in. The 1-1 deadlock continued.
Two minutes into the final quarter, Australia received consecutive penalty corner kicks. The second corner kick was scored by Hayward with a fierce low shot from the right side of substitute goalkeeper Kakla, who replaced Krishan Bahadur in the team. you.
The home team continued to put pressure on the Indian goal and were awarded two more penalty corners in the next minute but failed to capitalize.
Six minutes later, Australia were awarded another penalty kick, this time from Welch.
India also had three penalty-kick opportunities in the final four minutes but squandered the chances.
The final Test of the series will be played here on Saturday.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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