Thaindian News

By Sirshendu Panth
New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) After an euphoric Sunday, India’s World Cup campaign stuttered as Australia outclassed the hosts 5-2 in Pool B at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here Tuesday.

Barely 48 hours after the Indians handed Pakistan a 4-1 drubbing to begin their outing with a bang, there was a virtual reversal of script. While India disappointed, Pakistan bounced back with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Spain.

European champions England raced to their second victory on the trot by prevailing over South Africa 6-4, to lead Pool B with six points on the third day of the mega event.

Four other sides, India, Pakistan, Australia and Spain are on three points from two games, throwing the group wide open.

Favourites Australia played with their customary speed and verve to completely outclass India.

The Australians scored through Liam De Young (2nd minute), Glenn Turner (7th, 43rd), Desmond Abbott (26th) and Like Doerner (42nd). Three of the goals came in the first half before Vikram Pillay (35th) struck seconds before the breather to raise hopes of a turnaround.

But Australia came back hard on the Indian defence at the start of the second half striking twice in quick succession, and there was little that India could do except try and reduce the margin which they did through their skipper Rajpal Singh (53rd).

Australia thus got their campaign back on rails after their shock defeat against England in their tournament opener Sunday.

It was India’s fifth loss to Australia in seven World Cup meetings. Their only World Cup win against the Kookaburras came 32 years ago. The last World Cup encounter in 2002 resulted in a 4-3 victory for Australia.

Australia dominated right from the start, splitting open the Indian defence time and again with telling moves.

The forwards were well-backed by a free-flowing midfield and a strong defence that gave no elbow room to the Indians upfront. Man-of-the-match Robert Hammond was simply brilliant. He ran all over the park, creating chances and simultaneously falling back to bolster the defence.

Missing their star centre forward Shivendra Singh, who had to sit out with a two-match suspension, hosts were on the backfoot throughout. The aggression they showed against Pakistan was missing, the defence looked patchy and the forwards never gelled. All in all, Australia outpaced, and outsmarted their opponents in all departments.

Pakistan badly needed a win to stay afloat in the race for a semi-final spot. And Abdul Haseem Khan’s double strike (29th minute, 67th) could not have come at a more opportune time for them.

David Alegre was the scorer for Spain.

Abdul Haseem’s first session strike seemed to have set up a Pakistan victory till the match witnessed high drama in the last six minutes when two goals were scored.

Allegre converted a penalty corner to bring the two sides on an even keel, before Abdul Haseem got the winner by deflecting in a drag flick by Sohail Abbas from the team’s maiden short corner.

Earlier Pakistan went into the lead as Abdul Haseem found the target with a firm hit.

After shocking Australia in the first match, England showed they have the class to go up the tournament.

For England, Richard Mantell (14th minute, 57th) scored twice while Ashley Jackson (43rd) Rob Moore (23rd), Iain Mackay (52st) and Nick Catlin (50th) struck a goal each. The South African scorers were, Marvin Harper (9th, 53rd), Llyod Norris-Jones (25th) and Thornton McDade (67th).

It was an evenly contested match. The teams shared four goals in the first half, but England stepped up the tempo in the second to strike four times. The South African defence fell apart with England making some well synchronised moves.