ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hockey team were beaten 3-0 by Australia in the second match at the Marrara Stadium in Darwin on Wednesday. World number one Australia, who outplayed Pakistan 6-1 in the opener, now lead the four-match series 2-0, said a spokesman for the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). Somehow the green shirts, who were outclassed in all departments of the game in the opening tie, put up an improved show losing the match by a narrow margin. It was a fast paced game and both the sides had several chances off open play as well as penalty corners. However, the hosts had the better of the exchanges most of the time.
All the three Australia goals came through field attempts in the first half. In the first match, Pakistan had seemingly lost the script completely in the final phase and conceded four goals in the last 16 minutes. In the second tie, they fought well till the end. Kookaburras, who had gone ahead by three goals in the 33rd minute, couldn’t add to their tally in the remaining time. The third match will be played on March 31 (Friday).
Scorers:Tom Wickham (15th minute), Trent Mitton (30th minute), Aaron Kleinshmidt (33rd minute).