The last game of the day started in a fiery atmosphere but the Aussies were not impressed by the deafening noise and the crowd was quickly silenced by a quick goal by Liam DE YOUNG calmly collecting a rebound from a shot on the crossbar. They extended their lead a few minutes later on a penalty-corner, Glenn TURNER pushing over the line a shot originally stopped by the Indian defense.

Each Indian attack was pushed on by loud cheering from the hopeful crowd and Prabhjot SINGH and Gurwinder Singh CHANDI created some hot situations in the Australian circle, but Nathan BURGERS and his defense thwarted all their attempts. The Australians were closing very quickly on the Indian players to prevent them from developing their game and they defended well the first penalty-corner with an option for Sandeep SINGH. Australia deepened the gap in the 26th minute by Desmond ABBOTT, at the conclusion of a quick exchange of passes in the circle between Liam DE YOUNG and Robert HAMMOND that mystified the Indian defenders.

India finally scored by Vikram PILLAY in the dying seconds of the period to muster some hope for the second half. Immediately after the restart, Prabhjot SINGH set up Tushar KHANDKER but his instant reverse stick shot went wide. On the counter-attack, Australia earned a penalty-corner that was shot low by Luke DOERNER to re-establish the three-goal lead.

It dampened the Indian enthusiasm and Glenn TURNER immediately scored another goal to increase the lead to a seemingly insurmountable gap.  Rajpal SINGH gave back some hope to the crowd after a long and intense sequence in the Australian circle orchestrated by Arjun HALAPPA, very active today, but the Indians were wasting energy in their traditional long individual runs and could rarely penetrate the compactly organized and disciplined Australian defense.

Adrian D'SOUZA received a huge ovation when he saved a penalty-stroke from Jamie DWYER, but Australia controlled the end of the game to collect the three points of the win in a spectacular game that pleased the hockey lovers, if not the Indian fans.

Match Facts (India v. Australia):
> India went down 5-2 and suffered their fifth straight defeat against Australia in World Cup competition.
> Liam De Young, Glenn Turner (2) and Dess Abbott all scored for the first time in World Cup competition.
> Luke Doerner scored once to add to his two goals from the 2006 World Cup.
> Vikram Pillay became the first India player since Prabhjot Singh in 2002 to score in a World Cup match against Australia.
> Rajpal Singh scored his third World Cup goal, adding to his goals in 2006 vs ARG and RSA.
> England lead Pool B with six points from two matches. Australia, Spain, India and Pakistan are all on three points. South Africa are botton, still awaiting their first point at this World Cup.