Spirited Indian hockey team go down 3-2 to Australia in final match, lose Test series 5-0

The Indian men's hockey team put up a valiant fight but lost 3-2 to Australia at Perth in its final game on Saturday to finish the five-match Test series winless.

Australia, third in the FIH rankings, won all their games convincingly against the fifth-ranked Indian hockey team, who were unable to prevent a whitewash despite scoring the opening goals in the last two matches.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh (4') and Boby Singh Dhami (53’) found the back of the net for India on Saturday while Jeremy Hayward (20’), Ky Willott (38’), and Tim Brand (39’) scored the goals for the Kookaburras.

India tried to set the tempo in the first quarter by keeping more of the ball possession. The approach paid dividends as they breached the Australian hockey team's defence multiple times and earned consecutive penalty corners.

While the first chance went begging, Harmanpreet Singh capitalised on the second and expertly fired a grounded shot with precision to give India the lead. India upped the ante and tested Australia's defence for the rest of the quarter but the scores remained the same.

India continued to press forward in the second quarter but Australia secured a penalty corner against the run of play and made the most of it through their in-form player Jeremy Hayward in the 20th minute.

After scoring the equaliser, the Kookaburras put the Indian defence under pressure and threatened to take the lead on multiple occasions but the scores remained 1-1 at half-time.

The Indian hockey team came out strongly in the third quarter and almost took the lead when Abhishek found himself in a promising position inside the circle with only the keeper to beat. However, he could not execute his shot effectively.

On the other hand, Australia capitalised on their counterattacking chances with Ky Willott and Tim Brand netting field goals within a minute of each other. The back-to-back goals propelled the hosts to a comfortable 3-1 lead going into the final quarter.

India ramped up their intensity in search of a response and executed quick passes. Their efforts bore fruit when Boby Singh Dhami calmly slotted in his first international goal with seven minutes to go for the full-time.

India put Australia under the pump in the final minutes of the game but the hosts succeeded in preventing India from levelling the score and secured a 3-2 victory.

The five-match tour was part of India’s Paris 2024 Olympics preparations. Both Australia and India have been drawn in Pool B of the men’s hockey tournament at the Paris Olympics, with the two teams set to meet in their final group match on August 2.