Captain Harmanpreet Singh’s brace went in vain India The world number one side suffered a 4-5 loss to Australia in the final game to win the five-Test hockey series 1-4 here on Sunday.
Tom Wickham (2nd, 17th) scored twice for Australia while Aran Zalewski (30th), Jacob Anderson (40th) and Jake Wetton (54th) scored for the home side.
Harmanpreet (24th, 60th) converted two penalty corners for India while Amit Rohidas (34th) and Sukhjit Singh (55th) also found the net for the opposition.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Points Table | fifa world cup 2022 schedule , fifa world cup 2022 result , fifa world cup 2022 golden boot
India lost the first two Tests 4–5 and 4–7 and went on to win the next 4–3 before losing the fourth game 1–5.
Australia were by far the better side to put in the show as they controlled the proceedings in the opening two quarters.
India, on the other hand, were slow to come out of the blocks and looked tentative.
Australia wasted no time in punishing India, with Wickham scoring a powerful strike from the top of the circle just into the second minute.
The Indians failed to put pressure on the Australian defense and hardly created any chances in the opening quarter.
Australia doubled their lead in the 17th minute and then it was Wickham.
Lachlan Sharp stole the ball in midfield and went past some Indian defenders to set it up for Wickham, who slotted home from a one-on-one situation with India custodian PR Sreejesh.
India managed to pull one back in the 24th minute when Harmanpreet converted a well-executed penalty corner.
Australia soon earned two consecutive penalty corners but India’s reserve goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak made a fine save to deny Jeremy Hayward.
But the Kookaburras restored their two-goal advantage seconds from half-time when Aran Zalewski scored from close range after Pathak made a double save to deny Anderson.
After the change of ends, India went on the attack and reduced the margin to 3-2, Amit Rohidas scoring with a powerful shot from a tight angle.
Read this also | FIFA World Cup 2022: Lionel Messi beats Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Maradona
Minutes later, Sreejesh pulled off a smart save to keep Sharpe out as Australia continued to put pressure on the Indian defence.
Australia took the lead in the 40th minute when Anderson pushed Daniel Beale’s ball.
The Kookaburras continued to work hard at the Indian backline and from such a spot, Weighton fired home from close range to make it 5–2 in favor of the hosts.
The Indians responded quickly with the next move and Sukhjeet found himself in the right place to tap in a fine team effort.
In the last minute of the game, India earned a penalty corner and Harmanpreet was in no mood to squander the opportunity, reducing the margin to 4-5.
But that was all the Indians had as there was hardly any time left for the equaliser.
read all Latest sports news Here