Bhubaneswar, Feb 22 India beats Australia in penalty shootout after the second FIH Pro League match between the two sides ended in a 2-2 draw at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
Australia took the lead and gave it away in the second quarter before equalising in the early exchanges of the fourth quarter and pushing the game into penalties.
Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh gave consecutive penalties strokes away in the first two Australian attempts. While Matt Dawson succesfully converted the first, Daniel Beale hit the second wide. Vivek Sagar Prasad then put India 2-1 ahead in the shootout after which, the Austral could not find a way past Sreejesh.
The Indian custodian made two consecutive saves in between which Lalit Upadhyay scored and India won the shootout 3-1.
The first quarter of the match saw chances at both ends go begging. Australia went ahead in the 23rd minute, largely thanks to a mistake from Krishan Pathak let Trent Mitton's shot from a tight angle go into goal unchecked.
Two minutes later, Rupinder Pal Singh scored from the first penalty corner of the night that India had won. The hosts won two consecutive penalty corners in the next minute and Harmanpreet Singh scored from the latter.
The third quarter was similar to the first with both sides unable to convert their chances. Australia found success early in the fourth quarter with captain Aran Zalewski making the most of a moment of slack defending from India.
( With inputs from IANS )