India women's hockey team squanders lead, suffers second consecutive loss against Australia in FIH Pro League
The Indian women's hockey team fought on equal terms against Australia but conceded a last-minute goal to lose 1-2 in its FIH Pro League match in London on Sunday.
This was India's second consecutive defeat to the same opponents as they had lost 2-3 on Friday.
India took the lead in the third minute through a field goal from Vaishnavi Phalke and they were 1-0 up at half-time. But Australia restored parity in the 37th minute through Amy Lawton.
The match was heading towards a draw but Lexie Pickering scored the winner from a penalty-corner variation in the 60th minute to break Indian hearts.
India made a bright start to the game by winning three back-to-back penalty corners in the very first minute, adding pressure on the Australian backline. India carried on its momentum and scored the opening goal as early as the third minute to take charge of the match.
Navneet Kaur carried the ball forward and passed it to Sharmila Devi to the left. Devi played it to the far post for Vaishnavi to deflect the ball into the net.
India continued to pile on the pressure as Navneet came close to extending the lead but narrowly missed the target.
With 34 seconds left on the clock, Australia converted a penalty corner to complete their comeback in the match. Tatum Stewart played the perfect pass to Pickering (in picture) who deflected the ball into the net to hand Australia all three points. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Minutes later, Australia won two back-to-back penalty corners towards the end of first quarter but India did well at the back to maintain its lead.
Australia improved its performance in the second quarter and started creating goal-scoring chances. Both sides exchanged possession and battled it out in the midfield but they couldn't be separated in the second quarter as India headed into the second half with a goal in hand.
Australia was more dominant in the third quarter and caused troubles for the Indian defence. Greta Hayes came teasingly close to scoring a goal as she struck a shot towards an empty net. However, the ball was accidentally stopped by her own teammate.
In the 37th minute, Australia was on the attack again and Lawton managed to find the equaliser through a brilliant field goal. Lawton did well to win the ball from an India defender and then unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the circle, past the keeper into the bottom right corner.
In the fourth and final quarter, India earned a penalty corner but the Australian keeper was up to the task to keep her side in the contest.
In the 54th minute, India won four penalty corners in a row but it failed to find the net. In its third attempt, India was unlucky not to take the lead. Neha fired a shot which took a deflection and struck the post.
With 34 seconds left on the clock, Australia converted a penalty corner to complete its comeback in the match. Tatum Stewart played the perfect pass to Pickering who deflected the ball into the net to hand Australia all three points.
India next faces Argentina in London on Tuesday.
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