Kuala Lumpur: India's 1-4 capitulation to Australia in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament on Sunday surfaced out of its own inadequacies rather than an extraordinary display by the defending champion.

Precious little has improved despite the change of coach. There were, as always, wasted chances, disharmony in the midfield, and a very laboured defence that showed not even an iota of dynamism and defiance.

Two goals in the first quarter laid India low. Neither of them was unstoppable for a defence or a goalkeeper at this level. Pathetically, India conceded them without imagination. Fleeting moments of stick-work by Rajpal Singh and Arjun Halappa or tackles by Prabodh Tirkey, Bimal Lakra and V.S. Vinay could not compensate for the surprisingly inept interceptions of Viren Resquinha or the waning enterprise of Gagan Ajit Singh.

Early failure

Rajpal Singh failed in the early minutes when the Aussie defence was at full stretch after a combined thrust. But that moment did little to motivate or inspire the squad.

On the whole, it was an indifferent display, replete with errors of which some were embarrassing. Needless elaboration of long drives, especially from Dilip Tirkey, only accentuated the confusion.

Australian coach Barry Dancer was satisfied with the performance. He assessed India's display as "nothing too unexpected". He was happy with the way his newcomers shaped in meeting the demands required for next month's Champions Trophy and beyond.

Baskaran admitted it was a below par performance and all the homework was futile. He indicated that Rajpal Singh, who twisted his ankle, might miss the rest of the matches.

The comeback star, Troy Elder, tapped in a cross from Travis Brookes and minutes later Matt Nylor enlarged the lead for Australia. India's only penalty corner ended in a goal when Sandeep's shot prompted a scrimmage. Tejbir Singh seized the opportunity with relish.

Giving nothing away

A miss by Prabodh Tirkey at this point suggested a close finish at half-time. But in the second half the Aussies gave nothing away, notwithstanding a disruption of play for about 20 minutes on account of heavy rain.

Nylor struck in the early minutes while Luke Doerner converted the third penalty corner late in the second half.

Affirming its status as a re-emerging force, New Zealand recovered to inflict a defeat on Argentina in Group B. Anyone who had visualised a rout for the Kiwis, when it trailed 0-2 at half-time, was in for a pleasant surprise.

The two goals Mathias Vilas slotted home from penalty corners in the first half were nullified by the splendid work by the Kiwis in the second. Minutes after the break, Hayden Shaw smashed in a penalty corner.

No sooner had the cheers from a motley group of Kiwi supporters died down, a brilliant move by Bevan Hari culminated in Gareth Brooks providing the finishing touches. Close on time, Richard Patherick produced a stunner of a penalty corner to sway the scales of victory.

Twice in deficit, Korea managed to snatch a draw against a scratch Malaysian combination in the third match.

The results:

New Zealand 3 (Hayden Shaw, Gareth Brooks, Richard Patherick) bt Argentina 2 (Mathias Vilas 2).

Australia 4 (Matt Nylor 2, Troy Elder, Luke Doerner) bt India 1 (Tejbir Singh).

Malaysia 2 (Abdul Mutalib, Chua Boon Huat) drew with Korea 2 (Kyo Sik You, Jong Hyun Jang).

Monday's matches: Netherlands v Pakistan (6 a.m IST), Korea v Australia (12.30 p.m.), India v Malaysia (2.30 p.m.).

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