Melbourne: As Australia geared up to face Pakistan and pick its third successive gold medal, India slithered further down the slope of despair to finish sixth in men's hockey at the Commonwealth Games on Friday.

The host scored a flattering 6-0 win against Malaysia, while Pakistan, pushed to the edge more than once in a terrific contest, beat England through a golden goal by Shakeel Abbasi to win 2-1.

With an exhibition of ineffective hockey and innocuous frontline work, India courted disaster almost throughout the second half and went down to New Zealand by a golden goal from Philip Burrows.

The contest was listless and the details can well be consigned to the dustbin. Imagine the image of a team that gets three yellow cards, fritters away a 1-0 half-time lead and slips down to a defeat.

Uninspiring frontline

It is difficult to recall a frontline that was as uninspiring as the one forged for this important event. Deepak Thakur, the key man, struggled to get his touch. But how Didar Singh and Sardar Singh made the grade is difficult to understand as they could not even trap a pass, leave alone develop a move.

Clueless as the coach Rajinder Singh (jr) has been throughout, the combination, barring some good work in the mid-field by Prabhodh Tirkey and goalkeeping by Bharat Chetri, was not cut out for any striking performance.

Sandeep Singh struck a penalty corner with panache to enlarge his individual tally to seven in the competition. Unable to hold on, the Indians conceded the equaliser when Beavan Hari flicked in a rebound from Chetri off a shot by Benjamin Collier.

India had just two penalty corners against the seven by the Kiwis. Tejbir Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh and Sandeep Singh received yellow cards as did Beavan Hari.

Said Viren Resquinha after the match, "we were very disappointed at the end of that game. We had to go a bit on the defensive... and with the yellow cards, it was a bit hard to get into the offensive field."

Considering the quality displayed in the competition, the sixth spot cannot be deemed as inappropriate.

Phlegmatic

Australia was unimaginably phlegmatic as it overwhelmed Malaysia 6-0. The Malaysians, who had no pretensions of conquering the World No. 1 in its den, showed the gumption required. Its best weapon was defence and what it did there was exemplary. Skipper Kuhen and the diminutive Nor Azlan were admirably assured.

The renowned Aussie flourish was sadly missing and Jaime Dwyer fumbled more than once. Till five minutes to the end of the first half, the Malaysian resistance was real, charming and successful.

But tragedy struck when the Scottish umpire Gerald Curran showed the dreaded spot after Kuhen tackled Dwyer. The Malaysians' indignation came to nothing and Livermore put the Aussies on course.

The five goals that Australia struck in the second — two from strokes and two from penalty corners — underscored the sullen mood of the Malaysian defenders for whom the writing on the wall was clear.

Spirited display

In the other semifinal, England put up a spirited display to keep Pakistan under tremendous pressure. On the run of play England seemed better organised in every department. James Tindell, Joanathan Clarke and Richard Alexander, well supported by the mid-field manned by Bret Gerrard and Ben Hawkes, gave the fumbling Pakistan defence no respite.

A brilliant effort midway in the second half by Shakeel Abbasi saw Pakistan forge ahead.

But England fought back exceedingly well to draw level through a penalty corner hit by Matthew Daly. In extra time, Shakeel Abbasi struck another superb goal, a golden one at that, to end an absorbing contest.

The results:

Semifinals: Australia 6 (Brent Livermore 2 (ps), Jaime Dwyer, Luke Doerner (2), Liem de Young) bt Malaysia 0; Pakistan 2 (Shakeel Abbasi 2) bt England 1 (Matthew Daly).

5-6: New Zealand 2 (Bevan Hari, Philip Burrows-golden goal) bt India 1 (Sandeep Singh).

7-8: Scotland bt South Africa 2-1.

9-10: Canada 2 bt Trinidad and Tobago 0.

Saturday's matches: Women: Bronze medal match: England v New Zealand (5 a.m.); Final: India v Australia (7.30 a.m.).

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