india SPOrts

Boosted by a brace from Tushar Khandker, defending champions India overcame a major scare before edging out a fighting Australia 4-3 in an exciting clash at the Sultan Azlan Shah cup here today.

Tushar Khandker (19th, 32nd min), Rajpal Singh (21st min) and Shivender Singh (61st min) scored for India while Trent Milton (36th min), Christopher Cirello (37th min, PC) and Mark Paterson (70th min) reduced the margin for Australia.

India, who are now leading the pool with two wins and a draw, were leading 3-0 at half-time.

The defending champions dominated the early exchanges although Australia almost grabbed the lead in the second minute.

The Indian forward line was displaying their characteristic lack of precision and wasted a couple of sitters before Khandker scored the opening goal.

Arjun Halappa and substitute Danish Mujtaba combined well to set up a nice pass for skipper Rajpal Singh who doubled India's lead.

A speedy run by Mandeep Antil saw the Australian custodian intercept the ball. Khandker pounced on the rebound to give India the third goal.

The Aussies struck back after the break with back to back goals from Milton and Cirello.

If the first half saw the Indians display their class, the second session was dominated by the Aussies as the men from Down Under went all out for the equaliser.

Australia came up with wave after wave of attacks but the Indian defence held firm.

However, it was the Indians who pushed home their advantage as Khandker set up Shivender for India's fourth goal.

Paterson managed to score a consolation for Australia with just 33 seconds left as India emerged winners.



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