India 5-4 Australia, FIH Pro League HIGHLIGHTS: Harmanpreet scores hat-trick in nine-goal thriller

The action does not stop for India. The Men in Blue face off against World Champion Germany on Monday. No break. It beat the same opponent 3-2 on Friday and will take go into the contest with high confidence. The thriller against Australia tonight should add to that morale boost for David John’s side.

That is all from tonight’s match. Stay tuned to Sportstar for the latest updates from the FIH Pro League.

See you for India’s match against Germany tomorrow. Cheers!

“It was a great match. Great to see the crowd here. The match was played in a great spirit. Shame that so many people got carded, but that’s is how the game is. Five goals is a bit disappointing for us.“

For his hattrick, the Indian captain gets the man of the match award.

“I think today we played very well. We decided we will go for the full 60 minutes and we did it. Winning is important. Whenever we come on the pitch, we have just that target. Thanks to everyone who is supporting us.”

Harmanpreet extends his lead at the top of FIH Pro League topscorers. He how has 10 goals in the tournament. Nine penalty corners and one penalty stroke.

It is over! Breathe folks. Catch your breath. India has beaten Australia. That’s something to cherish for Indian fans.

India manages to hold onto the one-goal lead and win the match. It was cat and mouse in the last quarter. Australia was charging full-steam on an attack when the hooter blew. It can still hold its head high. The Kookaburras were down three goals but pulled off a late flourish to push India right down to the wire. Harmanpreet scored a hattrick for India and continued his brilliant run in the FIH Pro League. Pawan too played a vital role in blocking multiple Australian attacks. Two wins in two for India. Quite a start after the World Cup shock.

Pawan saves! Incredible! Welch went with the shot and Pawan gets down to save it.

Another penalty corner for India. Jarmanpreet hits the ball beyond the baseline. It was deliberate and that is a corner. Jarmanpreet ensures that no Australian player can get to the rebounded second ball.

India is able to save the penalty corner.

Howard’s drag flick is saved but Australia gets another penalty corner.

Australia gets a short corner. Zalewski wins it. Appears to have come off Manpreet’s foot.

Manpreet defends Australia’s attempts from the right wing.

Kookaburras keep the ball. No circle entry though as India has all spaces covered. Patience is the key.

Australia has taken its goalkeeper off the field. 11 outfield players.

Australia is not leaving this one! Again just the one goal in it. India manages to save the first two attempts from the penalty corner but the third one goes into the net. Zalewski scores the goal.

Vivek concedes a penalty corner. The contact seems outside the circle but India does not have a referral.

Oh he’s done it! Harmanpreet leaps into the air with joy! It is a hattrick for him. He absolutely demolishes the back board with his power. The keeper has no chance on that one. India restores the two goal lead.

Australia’s Whetton is the first rusher and he blocks Harmanpreet’s drag. But with his foot. Another PC for India.

No clear reason to change your decision, says the video umpire. There was a clear stick check there.

Australia has referred the call.

Hardik and Vishnukant combine to win India a penalty corner. Hardik was the main orchestrator there with a counter attacking run.

Another circle entry for Australia. Willott from the left side, plays the ball across. There is no Aussie stick to tap it though. Pawan saw it and lets the ball pass.

Australia scores! It goes with a variation and finds success. Gupte lets the ball pass to Howard. The first shot is saved. But Staines is there for the deflection and he puts it home. Just the one goal difference and around seven minutes left.

Australia gets a penalty corner and Manpreet sees a yellow. A push on the back of an Australian. He seemed to have lost his footing with a slip.

The umpire explains the decision to captain Zalewski. It appears that he got a green card for not removing his pads, used for a penalty corner defence, in time and for doing so outside the circle. Still not clear about the yellow card.

There is another yellow card for Australia. Ockenden is sent off for five minutes. Still not sure about the reason. But it looks like it is for an argument with the umpire.

India misses! It overthinks a penalty corner variation. Harmanpreet receives the ball but he slips it back to Jugraj. Jugraj finds no space to drag the ball with the Australia defence charging in.

India is awarded with a penalty corner. Dilpreet plays a direct pass to Sukhjeet. He cleverly uses the pace of the ball to guide it to an Aussie foot.

Australia’s Gupte misses again from the short corner. He aims for the right side of the goal. It has plenty of power but it keeps going wide.

Manpreet is culprit to conceding a penalty corner. Australia with a chance to come within one goal.

Manpreet fires a long-range pass along the ground. Gurjant dives forward to meet it but falls short. That was not too far from connecting.

Collins’ slap shot into the Indian circle from the right side goes out of play.

India with an aerial ball enters the Australia circle. Karthi, however, is not able to work the goal from thereon.

Here we go! Final 15 minutes of the match.

Australia has stolen the slightest bit of tempo towards the close of the third quarter. There was no goal from India. It did not threaten much either. The Kookaburras on the other hand got one through Willott. The last 15 minutes left.

PAWAN SAVES! Gupte took the drag flick and the young Indian keeper blocks the shot.

Australia has another penalty corner. Welch is recieving an aerial pass and the umpire deems that the Indian player is not five metres away.

India comes close to scoring. It has the ball in the circle but it rolls out as no Indian stick connects.

Australia cuts the deficit by one goal. Collins with the ball in the right side of the circle. He plays it square where Willott is waiting to finish. He beats Pawan. Australia with life left.

Welch is trying his best to find a foot or the goal in the circle but India stands resolute and defends the danger.

Australia misses! Gupte was going for a one-two finish with Zalewski. The latter, however, misreads the pass and is walks too close to the goal. The ball passes from behind him and the chance goes begging.

The first drag flick is blocked by Manpreet but Australia gets another try. The ball came of the Indian’s foot.

Australia wins a penalty corner. Vivek gets his stick onto Anderson’s hand and the umpire points for a short corner.

Sukhjeet early gets to a long range pass. Vivek had nicked it from Australia to break the attack. And he straight away went for the pass aimed at his teammate further up the pitch.

Dilpreet and Shamsher both try to get behind a long-range scoop. Neither gets a stick to it and the ball goes out.

Vishnukant goes down with the hope of winning a free hit but the umpire is right in front of him and denies the appeal. The Indian had the ball before he lost control of the dribble.

SAVED! Pawan saves Beltz’s reverse stick shot. There was a cluster of bodies in front of him and the Indian keeper did well to stop the shot.

Australia again deploys a high press and Atkinson wins the ball for the side.

India with a circle penetration. The ball rolls from front of Dilpreet and he gets a stick but is not able to completely control it. Beltz clears the ball thereon.

Anderson wins the ball from Dilpreet in the Australia half to turn possession.

India rolls the ball to get the second half underway.

Australia has been struck with a bolt of lightening. It looked confident when it scored within the first five minutes. It had complete control of the game. But two penalty corners for India and the momentum shifted drastically. Harmanpreet sent India into the lead in the dying minutes of first quarter. Jugraj started the second quarter with another goal before Karthi fired in rocket past Rennie.

Manpreet is close the Australia circle and dribbles past multiple players to try an entry into the danger area. Before he does, the umpire stops the play for an infringement.

Australia’s Willott is shown a green card for obstruction.

Karthi scores India’s fourth. What a goal. He gets the ball close to the Australia circle, beats a defender, moves in, and fires the ball into the top corner. World Class. Australia seems rattled here.

India again opts to keep the ball with its backline as Australia’s frontline presses forward.

A green card for Vishnukant and India is down to 10 players for the next two minutes.

Abhishek puts his body on the line and wins a free hit for India. He was trying to win a common ball and is brought down.

Manpreet with wizardly control on the left touchline. His skills allows India to move the ball a good 20 yards forward.

Dilpreet with a pass towards the baseline as he is surrounded by Australia players with his back to the circle. There is nobody to recieve and the ball rolls out of play.

Jugraj Singh steps up for the penalty stroke and he finds the net. He goes for the right side, Rennie goes for the left. India two goals ahead now!

INDIA WINS A PENALTY STROKE! Karthi goes with a tomahawk from the left side of the circle. The Indian player going for the tap in finish is pushed from behind.

India with a calm approach at the back. The backline controls the possession with long passes across the field.

SAVED! Gupte with the drag and Pawan saves it with his left hand.

Australia takes 16 seconds to win a corner in the 2nd quarter. Vivek had not stood at a 5 metre distance to a free hit and India pays the price.

India has snatched the lead in the last minute against Australia. Kookaburras got ahead through Beltz but the Indian captain saw that the lead was wiped out. Two goals from two penalty corners. This is going to be a mouth watering match up ahead.

India leads! Harmanpreet again for India. Two quick goals for the home team. This time Harmanpreet opts for the right side of goal and he disects the keeper and the man standing guard at the line.

Another penalty corner for India. Abhishek with brilliant control and strength. A yellow card too for Ockenden. The Indian is charging down the left wing when Ockenden brings him down with his stick.

HARMANPREET SCORES! It is 1-1! It is the trusted old drag flicker for India. He goes to the right side of the goal and the keeper is beaten for pace. He does get a leg to it but the balls fires past him and rattles the net.

Dilpreet hammers a shot into the foot of an Australia player and wins a PC for India.

Hardik wins a free hit for India with a shot on the foot of Welch. A slap shot from Harmanpreet loops in the air from a deflection and Australia gets a free hit for dangerous play.

SAVED again by Sreejesh! That was a proper squabble for the ball. Staines took the shot and Sreejesh spreads himself across to save it. The ball is loose and up for grabs and there are atleast seven sticks fighting for it. India gets the free hit.

Australia resumes play from a long corner.

Australia retains its referral but does not get the decision in its favour. Not enough camera angles to make the decision.

SAVED! The drag flick is blocked off the line but Australia has asked for a referral. The Kookaburras claim it came off the shin and not the stick of the Indian player.

The ejector for Australia has to go behind the half way line for coming inside the circle too early. The penalty corner is yet to be taken.

India loses its referral. No clear reason to change your decision, says the video umpire.

Australia has been awarded a PC! India asks for a referral. India has appealed that there were two balls on the field. Collins was taking a free hti and the Indian defenders were not five metres away from the spot. They claim they did not know which ball to set themselves to.

A save by Sreejesh! Zalewski again with the ball and this time he has the goal in sight. Sreejesh walks out of his line and dives forward to deflect the shot for a long corner.

Zalewski is proceeding into the circle form the left until an Indian defender gets his stick in to block.

Vishnu with great control in the heart of the midfield to retain the possession for India.

India opts for a deflected goal from the short corner but Harmanpreet’s pass is wide and the ball rolls out of play.

Australia was unbale to clear the ball out of danger and India wins another corner. Hardik with the work there.

This time it is saved cleanly. Zalewski blocked the drag flick with his stick on the line.

Again blocked by the Aussie runner’s foot andd India is reawarded the PC.

The flick is blocked by the first runner - Jake Harvie. But it came off a foot and India gets a second bite.

SUCCESSFUL! India wins the penalty corner.

India has asked for a referral. Karthi played a pass into the circle and the ball seems to have come of James Collins’ foot. The umpire did not think so but India asks for a video call on this.

AUSTRALIA SCORES! Seems like it came of Manpreet’s stick. The first chance for Australia and it pounces on it. Beltz slaps the ball across the face of the goal and Manpreet, in an attempt to stop the ball, deflects it into the goal.

Gurjant’s shot saved! Dilpreet and Gurjant combine and this leads India into the Aussie circle. A slap shot from Gurjant is saved by Durst.

Harvie errs in trapping the ball on the right touchline and Australia loses the ball.

Australia starts the first quarter from the half way line.

The national anthems have been completed and the players are taking their stations on the turf. Grab your popcorns folks!

India’s David John - Another formidable opponent tonight. We played them before the World Cup. Great to play them again. Will be nice to have success here. The Indian fans would want us to be consistent. After Germany, hope we can win against another top four team.

Australia’s Anthony Potter - WE played a great game against Germany but need to finish better. We are looking forward to the game today in front of a wonderful crowd.

India and Australia played a Test series in November-December 2022.

Australia pulled off a thumping 4-1 series win. Here is something interesting though. The series saw 42 goals scored across the five matches. An average of 8.40 goals per match.

Could we see such a high-scoring thriller tonight? We’ll wait and see.

Australia has been the opponent which has gotten the better of India. And in quite some style. The head to head record clearly shows the dominance of the Kookaburras. India would also remember the 7-0 drubbing in the Commonwealth Games final in 2022. Can India turn the tables here in Rourkela?

Australia 0-1 Germany

Australia 1-3 Spain

Australia 3-0 Argentina

Australia 2-4 Spain

Australia 2(2)-2(4) Argentina

India - 14 | Australia - 48 | Draw - 6

With the win against Germany, India leapfrogged Great Britain to third spot in the FIH Pro League standings with 11 points. Germany also has 11 points but sits fourth by virtue of fewer goals scored.

Australia, quite shockingly, is in eighth place in the standings. Out of the five matches played, it has lost three, won and drawn one each.

India: Won 3-2 against Germany

Australia: Lost 0-1 against Germany

There’s quite a few India vs Australia games happening- at the moment. While the cricket teams battle it out in Ahmedabad, hockey takes centre stage in Rourkela.

Lachlan Sharp, Jake Harvie, Nathan Ephraums, Johan Durst (gk), Jacob Anderson, Josh Beltz, Eddie Ockenden, Jake Whetton, Jayden Atkinson, Tim Howard, Aran Zalewski, Ben Rennie (gk), Craig Marais, Ky Willott, Jack Welch, James Collins, Hayden Beltz, Anand Gupte, Ben Staines, Davis Atkin

Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Pawan, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Jugraj Singh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Manjeet, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh (V/C), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Vishnukant Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, S. Karthi, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Gurjant Singh

The match between India and Australia will start at 7 PM. The match will be telecasted live in India on Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD TV channels in India. While the livestream of the same will be available on Fancode.

The long-standing inside joke in the Indian hockey circle is to keep the men’s team in the dark about the identity of the tournament till after it has actually ended to get the best out of them. Outside the country, most teams insist the team is tough to beat at home. Friday was both as India started its post-World Cup rebuilding with a 3-2 win against reigning champion Germany.

At the capacity Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium – the venue of its last competitive outing more than a month back – India played like it was expected to, with pace and without pressure, after taking time to get its rhythm. It created chances, pushed hard, found the gaps, and defended like a wall – things it did during the World Cup as well. But they also adapted, switched between possession hockey and quick passing and improved as the game wore on, things they had faltered in.

Ahead of the game, captain Harmanpreet Singh had almost seemed riled by the repeated references to the World Cup. He appeared ready to move on and did, converting India’s first penalty corner at the stroke of halftime – a low flick to the right with the power that had been sorely missed. That he missed a crucial penalty stroke right at the end would rankle, though.

Harmanpreet had also spoken about slight experiments with positioning. Whether it was strategic or not, the return of a fully-fit Hardik Singh and Sumit in the middle meant relieving Manpreet Singh of at least one of the multiple roles the latter had been forced to play. He was free to supplement the attack and the defence, along with Vivek Sagar Prasad, and was outstanding everywhere.

Sukhjit struck twice, taking full advantage of being perfectly positioned in front of the goal and put through, first by Jarmanpreet Singh on the move diagonally from the half line on the right and then by Manpreet doing the same from the left – passes to cherish for the ages.

The Germans, patient with their short, accurate passes consolidating and building from the flanks, were never out of the game, though, threatening to score off counterattacks and keeping the Indians on their toes.

An advancing PR Sreejesh, without any defensive backup, was beaten by Paul-Philipp Kaufmann in the 44th minute to reduce the margin. Michel Struthoff got one three minutes from time.

-Uthra Ganesan