Indian hockey team lost to Australia for the fourth consecutive time in the test series
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Perth. The disappointing performance of the Indian men’s hockey team continues on the important tour of Australia where it lost 1-3 in the fourth Test match of the five-match series. With this win, Australia increased its lead in the series to 4-0. The result of the match was not in favor of the Indians but there was a lot of improvement in the level of performance of the team. However, the host team proved to be better than India in every aspect. All four goals came from penalty corners in the match which started 40 minutes late due to lightning. India took the lead in the 12th minute thanks to captain Harmanpreet Singh, but goals from Jeremy Hayward (19th, 47th) and Jack Welch (54th) gave Australia their fourth consecutive win in the series.
India lost the opening Test 1–5, while the second and third Tests were lost 2–4 and 1–2 respectively. The opening quarter of the match was very competitive with both teams creating many scoring chances against each other. Mandeep Singh created a chance for India in the first minute of the match. Harmanpreet Singh’s pass from near the circle was saved by the Australian goalkeeper. Australia counter-attacked and won two consecutive penalty corners in the second minute, but both their attempts were thwarted by a brilliant save by experienced Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.
In this match, Indian players created opportunities to score goals by cleverly using the midfield. India got its first penalty corner in the 10th minute but Jugraj Singh failed to capitalize on the opportunity. A minute later, Australia got the third and fourth penalty corners but the Indians defended strongly. India took the lead in the 12th minute with Harmanpreet’s goal. The Indian captain scored the team’s second penalty corner with a powerful flick to the left of the goalkeeper. After falling behind by one goal, Australia made a strong comeback in the second quarter.
In the 19th minute of the match, Hayward gave the team the lead on the fifth penalty corner. Soon after, India had a chance to take the lead but Rajkumar Pal’s reverse hit went wide of the goal post. Australia won their sixth penalty corner shortly thereafter but reserve goalkeeper Suraj Karkera made a brilliant save. The match was evenly matched in the initial half but after the intermission, Australia started dominating the match. During this period, India also gave a befitting reply to Australia in the third quarter. In the last quarter, Australia won two consecutive penalty corners, out of which Hayward converted the second attempt to give the team the lead.
Karkera, who joined the team in place of Krishna Bahadur, failed to stop Hayward’s sharp attack. After gaining the lead, Australia started playing more aggressively. During this period, the team won three more penalty corners in the next six minutes. Welch scored in the 54th minute to increase Australia’s lead to 3–1. India also got three penalty corners in the last four minutes but the team wasted all the chances. The last test of the series will be played on Saturday.
Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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