India paid the price for defensive blunders in the dying moments as Australia handed it a 1-2 defeat in a friendly hockey match, here on Thursday, ending a disappointing trip Down Under for the team.
India was earlier supposed to play for the bronze of the tri-nation Challenge, meeting the new entrant Australia ‘A'.
However, the organisers decided to hold a Test as only Pakistan and Australia's senior team figured in the tri-nation series apart from India.
A strong Australia led by Fergus Kavanagh was too much for India to handle. The defence which held its own for most part of the match — the Indians managed to ward off five penalty corners on the trot in the first half — fell apart in the closing minutes. Daniel Hotchkiss gave the finishing touches to a move by Tim Bates to give Australia the lead. Sandeep Singh, who had till then missed three penalty corners, finally struck to equalise for India.
However, the Indian defence began to crumble in the last five minutes, conceding long corners in numbers.
In fact, the Indian defence itself brought the ball from the right corner to the circle, setting up rival player Matt Ghodes to score from close range.
The Indian forwards again came a cropper upfront, failing to convert good moves into goals. At the same time, barring the last 10 minutes of the first half, the Australian team was on the backfoot.
