Blake Govers scored a superb hat-trick to lead Australia to a commanding 7-4 victory in the high-stakes second hockey Test here on Sunday. India could only play well in spurts.
Before the host team had time to relax, India’s captain Harmanpreet Singh scored, giving his team the lead in the third minute with a perfect and potent penalty corner convert.
India had a strong offensive showing up front, and Harmanpreet nearly scored again, but the home team quickly took control after Govers and Jack Welch started scoring goals.
In the third quarter, the Men in Blue had an impressive performance and trailed by just one goal, 3-4, but a shoddy defense allowed the team to be completely destroyed in the final 15 minutes. India lost to the top-ranked team for the 12th time in a row, and in order to salvage the five-match series, it must now win the next two games.
Govers score
On Wednesday, the third Test of the World Cup qualifying series will be held. Govers was once again in the midst of the action after scoring the go-ahead goals in their tight 5-4 triumph in the first Test.
He scored in the 12th (PC), 27th, and 53rd minutes, and Welch added a second goal in the 17th and 24th minutes to complete his hat trick.
The Kookaburras, captained by Eddie Ockenden, who became the sixth player in history to make at least 400 international games, also had goals from Jake Whetton (49th) and Jacob Anderson (48th).
The other two Indian goals came from Hardik Singh (in the 25th minute) and Mohammed Raheel (in the 36th minute of the second half), while Harmanpreet finished off his hat trick with a penalty kick in the 60th minute of play.
This time, Harmanpreet’s drag-flick was wide, and he handed the ball to Raheel, who used the deflection to create a little opening in front and score past Benjamin Rennie.
After then, India put up an incredibly poor performance in the fourth quarter, and it was all downhill for the Kookaburras.
Here are more stories related to hockey.