India suffer 2-4 defeat against Australia in second hockey Test

The Indian men's hockey team put up a much-improved performance during the second game of their five-match Test series against Australia in Perth on Sunday but still they fell short against the hosts who scored three goals in the third quarter to win 4-2.

Jugraj Singh and Harmanpreet Singh scored the two goals for India - both coming from penalty corners - but India's forward line was quite disappointing as Australia handed India their second successive defeat.

Even the commentators were heard saying, "Do India get enough from their forwards?" after one of their chances went begging towards the end of the game.

They moved the ball well, made the circle entries but it was the final goal-scoring shot that abandoned them. On one occasion they hit the crossbar, while on other occasions they failed to get the touch.

Coach Craig Fulton had acknowledged ahead of the tournament about India's finishing being a focus point and it's something that the team will have to work hard on if they are to achieve better results in the coming matches.

Meanwhile, for Australia, who replaced India in the fourth spot in the FIH world rankings after Saturday's win, Jeremy Hayward netted a brace while Jacob Anderson and Nathan Ephraums scored one goal each.

Earlier, with Hardik Singh back in the squad, the team looked composed and played as a tight unit in the first half but it was Australia who took the lead when Hayward converted a penalty corner in the sixth minute. It was towards the bottom left corner and Krishan Bahadur Pathak's effort wasn't good enough,

It seemed as if Australia would be dominating the show once again as they won another PC within minutes of taking the lead but India had other plans this time around.

They themselves won their first PC following an aerial ball, and although Amit Rohidas failed to score on the first two occasions, Jugraj converted the third retake in the ninth minute to help the visitors equalize.

Despite conceding, Australia kept up the pressure on the Indian defence, who were upto the challenge, unlike the first game. They defended in numbers throughout the second quarter and didn't allow the Australians to find any easy space.

And when it seemed India had seen off the difficult period, they themselves took the lead in the dying seconds of the second quarter.

It was their second PC of the match and Harmanpreet converted to score his 180th goal and make it 2-1 for India. As the half-time hooter went off, it felt the goal will help India take the upper hand in the second half but it wasn't to be.

That's because once the match restarted, Australia equalized four minutes into the third quarter with Hayward converting another PC. Once again it was Pathak who conceded and he was more than frustrated with his efforts. Anderson and Ephraums then scored in the 42nd and 45th minutes as India's resilience slowly fizzled out.

Harmanpreet had another go from the PC in the beginning of the fourth quarter but he couldn't hit the target this time as India were handed another defeat by Australia.

The third match of the series will be held on Wednesday after a two-day break and it will give Fulton ample time to prepare for what will be another big test for the Indians.


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