Hockey: Australia beat India 5-1 and lead the series 3-1

Within regulation time, Jeremy Hayward in the 29th and 41st minutes, Jake Whetton in the 30th minute, Tom Wickham in the 34th minute and Matt Dawson in the 54th minute were the goalscorers for Australia.

In contrast, Dilpreet Singh, in the 25th minute, was the lone goalscorer for India.

Australia goalkeeper Andrew Charter exhibited his defensive skills and made several fantastic saves to prevent India from scoring against the World No. 1 side.

The match had a cagey start, with no goals scored in the game's opening quarter. Dilpreet Singh opened the scoring for India in the 25th minute to gain a 1-0 lead for India.

However, the home side levelled the score four minutes later as Jeremy Hayward slotted the ball into the net with an excellent penalty corner flick. One minute later, Jake Whetton added another to make it 2-1 for Australia as the match went into halftime.

India made some circle penetrations in the second half, but the home side took complete control of the game, adding two goals in the third quarter and one in the fourth to end all hopes of India bouncing back. The match ended with a 5-1 victory for Australia.

After the loss, India's captain Harmanpreet Singh said: "Australia were definitely a better team today. They played defensively right from the start and we could not capitalize on the lead by putting pressure on them." 

The 26-year-old Amritsar native believes playing against Australia is a great learning experience and helped them identify the areas of improvement ahead of the 2022 FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup.

The Indian men's hockey squad will try to bounce back in the final match of the Tour tomorrow with hopes of ending the series on a positive note.