A listless India went down to Australia 4-2 for its second loss in three matches, pushing it out of the race to reach the final at the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey here.
Late goals by Ramandeep Singh (52 and 53 minutes) were only enough to avoid a whitewash against table topper Australia, which got its goals through Mark Knowles (28), Aran Zalewski (35), Daniel Beale (38) and Blake Govers (40).
A golden opportunity was lost in the eighth minute when a swift assist from Ramandeep to Shilanand Lakra could not get past Australian goalkeeper Andrew Charter. Though the rebound was taken by Sumit, his shot on goal went wide.
Though the team’s defence kept Australia from making forays into the circle in the first quarter, an infringement in the 28th minute saw the Indian team concede a penalty stroke. Skipper Mark Knowles fired the ball past Krishan Pathak like to give his team a 1-0 lead.
In the 35th minute, a superb pass by Tom Craig in the baseline was effortlessly picked up by Zalewski and the latter’s diving effort ensured the ball went past Suraj Karkera.
The 3-0 lead came by when Beale scored a splendid field goal in the 38th minute. Govers later converted a PC as he brilliantly picked up a rebound that came off Karkera’s pads.
The final quarter saw India mount a comeback effort with Ramandeep scoring back-to-back goals in the 52nd and 53rd minutes.
The results: Australia 4 (Mark Knowles 28, Aran Zalewski 35, Daniel Beale 38, Blake Govers 40) bt India 2 (Ramandeep 52, 53); England 4 (Barry Middleton 15, 59; Sam Ward 37, 51 ) bt Ireland 1 (Julian Dale 39) .
