Pakistan thrashed by Aussies in series opener

KARACHI: Australia crushed Pakistan 6-1 in the first of their four-match series at the Marrara hockey stadium in Darwin, the capital city of Australia’s Northern Territory, on Tuesday.

The score was 2-0 at half time, but after that the Aussies took complete control and scored four more goals.

For Australia, the world’s top-ranked side, Ben Craig netted two goals, and Trent Mitton, Tom Wickham, Matt Dawson and Jeremy Hayward scored one each.

Captain Haseem Khan was the solitary scorer for Pakistan, who are ranked 14th in the world.

Pakistan’s chief coach Khwaja Junaid said the team had not been demoralised by the defeat. “This result only shows the difference between the two sides. We are rebuilding our side. We fought well in the first half. We will try to overcome our weaknesses in next matches,” he added.

Australia’s head coach Colin Batch said: “The score line was 6-1, but I think we have to put that into context. Pakistan made it very difficult for us for a number of quarters. The second was tough and third we didn’t create too much but we ended up getting the third goal and that opened up the game for us.”

The second test is to be played on Wednesday (today).