That’s it from us today! Like Vinayakk said, it has been a pretty entertaining series with both sides scoring for fun for the most part. India ended their losing streak against Australia during the course of this which should give them confidence. But India’s propensity to fly into reckless challenges and get booked is really hurting them. Graham Reid has his task cut out for the World Cup.

Goalscoring progress in Match 5

Team Minute Player Action Score
Australia 2 WICKHAM Tom Field Goal 1 - 0
Australia 17 WICKHAM Tom Field Goal 2 - 0
India 24 SINGH Harmanpreet Penalty Corner 2 - 1
Australia 30 ZALEWSKI Aran Field Goal 3 - 1
India 34 Rohidas Amit Field Goal 3 - 2
Australia 40 ANDERSON Jacob Field Goal 4 - 2
Australia 54 WHETTON Jake Field Goal 5 - 2
India 55 SINGH Sukhjeet Field Goal 5 - 3
India 60 SINGH Harmanpreet Penalty Corner 5 - 4
via TMS

Graham Reid: As a coach, you have to critical of things. But you also have to appreciate the good we have done. We have scored a lot goals against Australia and that’s a great thing for us.

It’s a bit like Pro League where you are changing defence often. We have tried a lot of things so now we’ll go back and see what worked and what didn’t.

Harmanpreet: I think we always talk about control in the middle and we are good at that. The boys were consistent and I am happy with that.

End of Q4, AUS 5-4 IND: India take of Pathak to go for the equaliser but the Kookaburras hold on. India lose the match 5-4 and the series 4-1.

Q4, AUS 5-4 IND: India score! Harmanpreet clinical once again from the PC and smashes the ball into the bottom corner!

Q4, AUS 5-3 IND: 51 second on the clock and Raheel does well to win a PC for India. Can India set it up for a grandstand finish?

Q4, AUS 5-3 IND: A frantic end to the match now. Australia nearly make it 6-3 from a 4 on 2 counter but Ephraums’ shot is wide.

Q4, AUS 5-3 IND: India hit back immediately! Brilliant one-touch passing there from India. Dilpreet scoops an incoming pass to Nilakanta who deflects it goalwards. Sukhjeet sneaks in and gets the decisive touch which takes it past the goalkeeper.

Q4, AUS 5-2 IND: The Aussies five score again! India dither in clearing in defence as the ball pings around the circle. Dylan Martin dives and cuts it back to Whetton who puts it past Sreejesh in goal.

Q4, AUS 4-2 IND: India playing so much better now and putting the Aussies under pressure. Harmanpreet tries his luck with a reverse shot which is saved easily.

Q4, AUS 4-2 IND: Australia continue their hunt for a fifth but India are able to defend. Crucially, no Indian player has gone into a rash tackle and gotten booked. So…

End of Q3, AUS 4-2 IND: The Kookaburras get on the attack and penetrate the circle from the left. As India defend, Reid can be heard yelling “aaram se” from the bench. India cannot afford to go down three goals now and they don’t.

Vinayakk: Gurjant Singh yellow card for a rash tackle, Australia score 3-1.

Sukhjeet Singh, yellow card for a rash tackle, Australia score 4-2.

Both times India had just got back into the match.

It is one thing to understand India need to work on their discipline, which they do. It is another to keep doing the same mistakes again and again. The good thing is, it’s a correctable habit. The worrying thing is, India are not correcting it.

Q3, AUS 4-2 IND: Australia score again! The hosts make India pay for being a man down. Daniel Beale runs along the goalline and puts it on a platter for Anderson who hits it high to double his side’s lead.

Q3, AUS 3-2 IND: Sukhjeet dives into a tackle from behind and takes out an Australian player. Five-minute yellow card for India. This is not good play by India. They had scored and have been looking brighter in the third quarter. But this will allow the hosts to hit back.

Q3, AUS 3-2 IND: India score! On the attack, Hardik Singh finds Amit Rohidas all on his own on the top right. The Indian defender takes his time and smashes the ball past the keeper at the near post. Game on!

Q3, AUS 3-1 IND: Ogilvie thread the needle and finds Ephraums. The Aussie is shepherded away and then India come away with Gurjant going on a lung-burtsing run.

Q3, AUS 3-1 IND: The umpire stops play as Australia are ready to take a free shot to have a word with both sets of players to not jostle a lot. Australia start strong once again but India holding them at bay for now.

End of Q2, AUS 3-1 IND: India try to end the quarter by pulling a goal back but it’s just hopeful long balls at this point.

Q2, AUS 3-1 IND: Australia score their third! Pathak pulls off two stunning saves but is not helped by his defenders at all. Zalewski is first on the loose ball and rockets the ball into goal between Pathak’s legs. The Indian lies face down on the field not believing that despite pulling off two back-to-back goals, he still concedes.

Q2, AUS 2-1 IND: Good pass to Hayward in the circle who swivels away from his marker. But while falling, I think it is Amit who also puts in a tackle. The umpire signals for the PC but then reverses it and gives the free shot to India.

Q2, AUS 2-1 IND: With 5 minutes on the clock, India are reduced to 10 men for the rest of the quarter as Gurjant is shown a yellow card for a needless foul.

Q2, AUS 2-1 IND: Australia win a PC right after the restart after drawing a foul from Amit Rohidas. The PC is blocked illegally and they get another one. Hayward takes it again and hits it straight at Pathak who gloves it away.

Q2, AUS 2-1 IND: India score! Mandeep Singh is taken out while trying to get a through ball and wins India’s sixth PC. This time around Harmanpreet doesn’t make any mistakes and buries the ball into the bottom corner. India need to build from here.

Q2, AUS 2-0 IND: A long ball over the top sees India create rare goalscoring opportunity. The ball from the right evades everyone in the circle and drifts away harmlessly.

Q2, AUS 2-0 IND: India lose the ball once again while playing out from the back. But this time they escape without conceding.

Q2, AUS 2-0 IND: India do not look like the team that took the match to Australia in the first three matches. They are falling back allowing Australia to keep the ball and take time to construct moves.

Q2, AUS 2-0 IND: Wickham again! Sharp once again sneaks past three Indian defenders allowing Wickham to be unmarked. With only Sreejesh to beat, he goes for the bottom corner to double his tally for the day. Shamsher, meanwhile, gets a green card for a stick tackle.

Q2, AUS 1-0 IND: The second quarter gets underway. The commentary team says that at the break, Reid told his players that he was unhappy with the way they were not getting to the ball first,

Vinayakk: India playing just a little bit like, “enough of these preparations, let’s go home and get ready for the World Cup” in the opening stages of this match. Both teams, in fact, not playing full tilt. It’s hot as well, and back-to-back matches can’t be easy.

End of Q1, AUS 1-0 IND: Sukhjeet Singh muscles Hayward out of the way to receive Harmanpreet’s pass from the deep. The Aussie is on the floor as Sukhjeet drives into the circle. Mandeep makes a run across and gets the ball. He goes for the reverse shot but only connects with air. Australia escape.

Q1, AUS 1-0 IND: Australia are dominating proceedings right now. After that flurry of PC’s at the start, India haven’t mustered any attack at all. The drive that was there in the first few matches has petered out it seems.

Q1, AUS 1-0 IND: Australia nearly double their lead! Brilliant run from Jacob Anderson and squares it for Lachlan Sharp. Sreejesh is in the right place to block it. However, Mandeep Mor goes down holding his lower back. Looks like he took Sharp’s knee to his back when trying to block the shot.

Vinayakk: Fourth match and start of fifth match, India’s PC conversion has gone off the boil and Australia haven’t been put under enough pressure. And one defensive mistake early in the game is all it took for AUS to take the lead. Xess missed his man (great skill it must be said from the Aussie forward). India would have been hoping for a tighter start to this match.

Q1, AUS 1-0 IND: A sustained spell of pressure from the home side. India are able to deal with it well. But when it’s their time to attack, India lose the ball quickly to let the Kookaburra’s get going again.

Q1, AUS 1-0 IND: Mandeep wins the first PC of the day. Nilam Sanjeep Xess takes it the first time but it takes an Aussie foot. Harmanpreet takes it the next time and it’s another PC. India then win a fourth PC but this time the Kookaburras clear and go on the counter. They win a PC of their own. Zalewski’s attempt flies wide.

Q1, AUS 1-0 IND: Australia take the lead! Tom Wickham loses his marker from a free shot and lets loose a power strike to give the hosts a lead!

Q1, AUS 0-0 IND: No Akashdeep, Abhishek or Jarmanpreet for India today.

Right then. The national anthems play for one last time this series. Reid and Harmanpreet will look to end the series on a high especially after the 5-1 loss in the last match.

Graham Reid speaking ahead of the match: These games are invaluable at this time of preparations. Really important we have a good showing today, that we work very hard. It’s going to be hot again, it will be a good test. We let ourselves down in crucial periods yesterday, and against a team like Australia they will hurt you if you make some simple mistakes. We started poorly, but came back and played well for the majority of the first half but let ourselves down again just before half time. Those little variations in our performance that we need to try and cut out, and keep that consistency through the game.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Indian hockey. The senior men’s team take on Australia in the fifth and final match of their Test series against Australia.

In what had been a fine series between two top sides so far, the fourth match – after a even first half – was a mood dampener for the Indians as they lost 1-5. The Australia, bouncing back from a rare defeat, put in an efficient all-round performance to clinch the series. But these five matches were more about getting things right for the upcoming World Cup and Graham Reid’s India will want to step up their performance as they close out the tour and return home.

India vs Australia, match 1 as it happened: Govers nets late winner, hat-trick for Akashdeep

India vs Australia, match 2 as it happened: Govers hits hat-trick, Harmanpreet & Co lose 4-7

India vs Australia match 3 as it happened: Akashdeep scores late as Indian men end long wait

India vs Australia match 4 as it happened: Harmanpreet and Co lose 1-5, hosts clinch series

Series preview: Harmanpreet Singh-led India face crucial test against Australia with World Cup looming

India squad:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Amit Rohidas (V/C), Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar

Midfielders: Sumit, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Mohd. Raheel Mouseen, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh

Screenshots in the blog courtesy: FIH Media / Disney+Hotstar