DUTCH DELIGHT: Matthijs Brouwer (right) is ecstatic after slotting in one of his two goals in the Netherlands' narrow win over defending champion Spain. — Photo: Vino John

Chennai: In an enjoyable demonstration of what velocity of attack means in competitive hockey, Australia produced a stunning spell, bordering on a blitz, to bewilder India into submission in the Champions Trophy here on Tuesday.

The Aussies recorded the verdict in a span of few minutes, striking four goals. Each one was a gem both in conception and execution.

Whatever resistance the Indians put up, commendable though in the mess in which they were in, was insufficient to alter the result in any way other than restricting the margin through a lovely goal by Tushar Khandekar.

The Aussies showed not only why they are the Olympic champions but also underlined the fact how ephemeral for India the euphoria of victory over the Pakistanis two days ago can be.

The Aussie sallies came in a cascade, and in variegated patterns, leaving the defence in a queer street. The pace and precision were such that the defenders had no clue from whom and where the ball would enter the net.

Superb strike

Even before one could say Jack Robinson, the Aussies were up with a superb strike from Nathan Eglington. Realising that the defence was simply unable to fathom the depth and intensity of the attack, the Aussies pressed the accelerator harder.

Brent Livermore was the hub around which the frontline functioned. Jaime Dwyer sped down the field like a gazelle to keep the attack bristling right through. The Indians were left with little time to comprehend as to what was happening before the second from Dean Butler surfaced.

This was followed by another peach of a goal by Nathan Eglington and at the stroke of the 20th minute, the Aussies were 4-0 ahead, the last effort stemming from Travis Brookes.

It was at this point that wisdom had dawned on the Indian coach to substitute Adrian D'Souza, who had simply watched the ball whiz past him into the boards. Bharat Chetri walked in even as the Indian team began to gather some measure of harmony and effort.

Viren Resquinha and Vinay stood up to the Aussie pressure, and even the deep defenders Kanwalpreet Singh and Harpal Singh tightened up a bit.

The frontline, abominably inconsistent, sustained itself from the good work of Rajpal Singh and Tushar Khandekar. Close on half-time, Tushar smashed in a rebound after a shot by Gagan was saved by Stephen Lambert.

Interestingly, Australia failed to force even a single penalty corner, while India had three, raising great hopes among the supporters.

Viren injured

The injury to Viren somewhat weakend the mid-field for the greater part of the second half. However, the team managed to ward off further reverses with Chetri even bringing off a superb save from a withering Brookes drive.

Australia is on top of the table with nine points from three matches. India has three from a win against Pakistan.

What appeared to be as pleasing as a sonata for the Netherlands, which was sitting on a 3-0 lead, almost turned jarring in the closing minutes when Spain sizzled briefly to strike twice. A brilliant save in the final minute by Guus Vogels off an astute deflection from Albert Sala saved the day for the Dutch. This was the second win for the Netherlands in three games and it has seven points.

There was little to suggest that such pulsating moments were in store from the way the Dutch defence exercised control in the mid-field. With the seasoned Jeorem Delmee at the helm, the defenders ensured that the Spanish attackers, Pol Amat, Santi Friexa and Eduard Tabau, obtained negligible space to weave in.

At the same time, the Netherlands was persistent to enlarge the early lead it gained through Matthijs Brouwer, who tapped in a rebound from Harrera off a shot by Rob Reckers. Spain could do little with the three penalty corners it forced in the first despite the best efforts of Friexa.

Midway through Matthijs Brouwer struck again after Hoying provided a lovely centre. This was followed by a superb solo effort by Karel Klaver.

Deadly comeback

On cloud nine at this point, the Dutch hardly was in a mood to anticipate a Spanish recovery, which, hearteningly enough, surfaced like lightning. A whiplash of a shot by Friexa out of a penalty corner signalled danger. And when only six minutes remained from the hooter, he Friexa paved the way for Eduard Tabau to finish with a blinder of a shot.

A draw was very much on the cards but the defence managed to smother the Spanish pressure in the remaining minutes. Spain has three points from the same number of matches.

Exciting encounter

In an exciting last match of the day, Pakistan and Germany shared eight goals, three of them coming off penalty strokes. This gave Pakistan its first point in three matches and the second for Germany in the same number.

The results:

The Netherlands 3 (Matthijs Brouwer 2, Karel Klaver) bt Spain 2 (Santi Friexa, Eduard Tabau) HT 1-0. Player of the match: Matthijs Brouwer.

Australia 4 (Nathan Eglington 2, Dean Butler, Travis Brookes) bt India 1 (Tushar Khandekar). HT. 4-1. Player of the match: Brent Livermore.

Germany 4 (Christopher Zeller 2,Carlos Nivoda, Marco Montag ) drew with Pakistan 4 (Muhammad Imran, Shakeel Abbasi, Rehan Butt, Saqlain) 2-3. Player of the match: Mudassar Khan.

Wednesday's matches: The Netherlands v Australia (4-30 p.m.); India v Germany (6-30 p.m.); Pakistan v Spain (8-30 p.m.)

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