Hockey, India vs Australia, match 1 as it happened: Govers nets late winner, hat-trick for Akashdeep

That’s it from us for today. Come back tomorrow at 11 am IST as India and Australia play the second match of this five-match series.

That was an end to end game. Akashdeep Singh shone for India with a wonderful hattrick while Harmanpreet Singh continued his goal-scoring run. Given they conceded 14 goals against Australia in their previous two meeting while scoring only once, India will perhaps take a 5-4 loss.

Graham Reid post-match reaction via Hockey India

“It was a disappointing finish to what was probably a pretty good performance.

“We let ourselves down at certain stages specifically in two quarters but I think we came back well only to unfortunately hand it back to them.

“The challenge now is to put a good performance together. One of the objectives of this tour is consistency, and that’s the challenge for us tomorrow.”

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: As Dilip had written in the preview, this series is about getting things right for the World Cup, more about performances than results. India’s defence & discipline are both concerns at the moment. That they can’t quite find a way past Australia who haven’t played as a unit since CWG is a bit concerning. But time there to address all that, for now, it was a wonderful game of hockey even if both sides will rue mistakes.

FT, AUS 5-4 IND: India’s wait for a win over Australia goes on. Tom Craig, with two assists and a goal is the player of the match. Blake Govers, after going close multiple times early on, gets his radar right late in the fourth quarter to score twice from PCs to win it for the home side.

Q4, AUS 5-4 IND: Blake Govers wins it for Australia! An absolute rocket into the bottom corner to get his 118th goal. Pathak could do nothing about it.

Q4, AUS 4-4 IND: With the last shot of the match, Blake Govers wins a PC. It’s a mis-trap but they somehow manage to win another PC.

Q4, AUS 4-4 IND: Akashdeep gets his hattrick! What a brilliant cross field pass from Harmanpreet. He found Akashdeep at the top left. The Aussie keeper rushes out but Akashdeep manages to fire the ball at goal. Hayward is there on the line but the ball goes in off his stick

Q4, AUS 4-3 IND: Blake Govers finally scores! Tom Craig did well to win the PC. Govers, who had hit the post earlier, fires the ball right into the bottom corner!

Q4, AUS 3-3 IND: Jarmanpreet Singh gets a green card and it’s 10v10 now.

Q4, AUS 3-3 IND: Whetton is shown a yellow card for taking out Jugraj with his stick. The Aussies are down to 10 players for five minutes with 8.30 left in the match. And we get an update that Whetton’s suspension has been increased from five minutes to 10 minutes. India have to go for the kill now with a player advantage.

Q4, AUS 3-3 IND: Beautiful stick work from Manpreet. The No 7 protects the ball and then reverses it towards goal but there’s no Indian stick to meet it.

Q4, AUS 3-3 IND: Australia get the first PC of the fourth quarter. Govers fires it high over the cross bar. He hits Manpreet in his follow through. Australia get another PC. Govers once again cannot hit the target missing the right post by a whisker.

Q3, AUS 3-3 IND: Akashdeep goes so close! The ball is cleared after a goal-mouth scramble. Nilam, I think, hits the ball into the circle where it loops high off a stick. The keeper comes out and Akashdeep, at the goalline, has a good chance to just sneak it into goal but sends it wide. Hands on his head in disbelief.

Q3, AUS 3-3 IND: Australia level! Govers’s penalty corner hits the post and comes back. Tom Craig is the quickest to react and whacks the ball in past Sreejesh. A deserved goal that for Craig for the amount of work he has done today.

Q3, AUS 2-3 IND: Tom Craig goes on one of his typical lung-bursting runs and wins a penalty corner. Willot takes it but his waist-high shot is deflected behind.

Q3, AUS 2-3 IND: India get a PC. Harmanpreet’s attempt is charged down with the ball hitting an Aussir foot. Another PC for India. There’s an early break by the Aussie defenders and they will now have to defend the PC with three defenders. Harmanpreet decides against shooting and reverses the ball to Nilam. His shot is blocked and Australia come away with the ball.

Q3, AUS 2-3 IND: India are making good use of the long ball. The PC was also won from a long ball. It is giving India the opportunity to ease the pressure and switch play quicker.

Q3, AUS 2-3 IND: Harmanpreet Singh scores! Surender wins the penalty corner. Rajkumar Pal is unable to trap it properly but he does well to pass it to the Indian skipper who blasts the ball into the bottom corner!

Q2, AUS 2-2 IND: Australia get their first PC of the match. Jeremy Hayward takes it and Pathak does well to kick the ball away from the bottom corner. And that’s the end of the second quarter.

Q2, AUS 2-2 IND: Akashdeep gets his second! What a goal from the Indian No 27! Sukhjeet Singh does well to hold the ball at the goalline and plays a reverse pass to Akashdeep. He beautifully controls the bouncing ball and unleashes a fierce reverse tomahawk into the bottom corner!

Q2, AUS 2-1 IND: That’s so good from Mandeep. Runs with the ball to the right goalline. With his back to Craig, it looks the move is over but Mandeep spins around and megs Craig and draws the foul. First PC of the match. It is Amit Rohidas who takes it and the ball flies just wide of goal.

Q2, AUS 2-1 IND: Shamsher Singh gets a green card. The Aussies take advantage and Jake Whetton almost scores from the narrowest of angles. At the other end, India nearly score but Akashdeep is unable to put his stick in the way of a cross.

Q2, AUS 2-1 IND: Australia score! Nathan Ephraums got the final touch but it was made by Tom Craig. Australia counter and Craig somehow manages to squeeze past three Indian defenders to get inside the circle. Stumbling forward, he squares the ball in front of goal for Ephraums to tap it past Pathak. Beautiful goal that!

Q2, AUS 1-1 IND: Manpreet plays in a beautiful pass to Sukhjeet in the circle. The forward needed to deflect it into goal but cannot reach it.

Q2, AUS 1-1 IND: Akashdeep once again calmly steals the ball to end Australia’s attack. There is early momentum in the Indian attack down the left but Australia quickly crowd out Nilakanta and Sukhjeet forcing them to play the ball back to their defence.

Q1, AUS 1-1 IND: Australia look to end the first quarter with a goal. Abhishek, however, is back helping his defence and comes away with the ball. And that would be the end of the first quarter.

Q1, AUS 1-1 IND: Brilliant play from India! Mandeep intercepts the ball and India get on the attack. Some quick sharp passes are played and then Hardik lobs the ball to Manpreet in the circle. The Indian no 7 fizzes the ball in towards Mandeep whose shot is saved by the keeper.

Q1, AUS 1-1 IND: Akashdeep strikes! He started the move and ends it! He intercepts a high ball and leads the counter. The ball is played to Dilpreet on the right and he squares it to Akashdeep to bury into the goal.

Q1, AUS 1-0 IND: Australia score! Akashdeep is robbed off the possession in the attacking half and the Aussies spring on the counter. The ball is played to Sharp Lachlan who rockets the ball into the top corner!

Q1, AUS 0-0 IND: Jugraj does well in a one-on-one position deep in India’s half. Harmanpreet then plays a delightful ball but the possession is lost.

Q1, AUS 0-0 IND: Hardik nutmegs Zalewski and drives towards the circle. He wins a foul. The ball is played ahead for the advancing Jarmanpreet Singh but it flies just ahead of the advancing defender.

The ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and ‘Advance Australia Fair’ ring out in Adelaide. Now on to hockey!

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Indian hockey. The senior men’s team begin their final leg of their World Cup preparations with a five-match Test series against Australia.

The last time these two sides met, the Kookaburras beat India 7-0 to win gold at the Commonwealth Games. India have a poor record against the Aussies in recent times with their last outright win coming in 2016.

Australia are playing for the first time since their Commonwealth Games triumph and will use these five matches to finalise their World Cup team as well as their strategies.

Harmanpreet Singh-led India face crucial test against Australia with World Cup looming

India squad:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Amit Rohidas (V/C), Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar

Midfielders: Sumit, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh

Screenshots in the blog courtesy: FIH Media / Disney+Hotstar