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Strikes from Nathan Ephraums, Joel Rintala and Tom Craig condemned India to their fifth defeat on the bounce despite Abhishek’s brace.
FIH Pro League: India 2-3 Australia. (X)
The Indian men’s hockey team went down 2-3 to Australia in Belgium on Saturday in the European leg of the FIH Pro League. Abhishek struck early in the game to give the Men In Blue a lead before doubling down on it with a strike in the third quarter. But strikes from Nathan Ephraums, Joel Rintala and Tom Craig condemned India to their fifth defeat on the bounce.
Team India came into the game against Australia on the back of a four-game losing streak, and were condemned to their fifth defeat on the bounce despite having led by two goals at one point.
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Abhishek opened the scoring in the game as he received the ball on the half turn and produced something special to take the Australian custodian by surprise, as he put the ball into the back of the net with a ferocious shot.
He doubled the lead in the third quarter as he put the ball between the legs of the Australian custodian for his second of the day following an exquisite bit of work off the ball by Sukhjeet Singh, who forced and error before setting it up on a platter for his teammate to score.
The Aussies, however, were rewarded for their sustained pressure as Ephraums got to the ball first with a dive after a deflection off the Indian custodia Suraj.
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Australia pegged India back with a penalty corner executed to perfection as the Aussies blast the ball into the back of the net with a drag-flick to restore parity thanks to Joel Rintala. India did everything to keep the Aussies at bay, but the Kookaburras have held their nerve to fight their way back into the game. Australia got the telling third goal through Tom Craig in the final minute of the fixture to emerge victorious.
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