Hockey, India vs Australia Test series, Match 2 as it happened: Hockeyroos notch 3-2 comeback win
A recap of India’s second Test match against World No 3 Australia in Adelaide.

India 2 (Sangita Kumari - 12’, Gurjit Kaur - 16’) - 3 Australia (Tatum Stewart - 11’, 44’, Pippa Morgan - 37’)
Follow Scroll’s coverage of Indian hockey here
Interview: India hockey coach Janneke Schopman on Australia tour, preparing for Asian Games and more
India vs Australia Test series, Match 1 as it happened: Hockeyroos win 4-2
The match is being broadcast on DD Sports and will be streamed on DD Sports’s YouTube channel as well as FanCode in India.
That’s it from us today. Do join us tomorrow for India’s third and final match against Australia in this series.
FT, India 2-3 Australia: Despite the loss, a lot more positives to take from this match than the first one. They came out with a lot of energy and intent and blew Australia away in the first half. But that came at a price as they ran out of steam in the second half. Schopman will have to work on getting her players to play with the same intensity for the whole match and try and get them to manage their energy levels.
A much better performance from India in the second match. Good attacking intent but perhaps need to be able to keep up that pace consistently. Australia soaked up the pressure after the initial shock to come away 3-2 winners. #AUSvIND
— Shahid Judge (@shahidthejudge) May 20, 2023
#Hockey #INDvsAUS Match 2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 20, 2023
Australia 3-2 India
Two goals in Q3 sees Hockeyroos turn things around. A different kind of win for them, riding the pressure that India put on them for large parts. India had their chances towards the end but not to be. https://t.co/hz4YMh4mcC pic.twitter.com/8FmhfCJB3K
FT, India 2-3 Australia: The Hockeyroos complete a very good comeback win. The first half belonged to India but they were unable to play with the same intensity in the second and Australia blew past them to win the match and the series.
Q4, India 2-3 Australia: 90 seconds left and Vandana gets a big chance to level the match. The Australian defender plays a fake pass but Vandana reacts quickly to win the ball. However, she cannot get the pass away.
Q4, India 2-3 Australia: Brilliant save from Newman in the goal! Gurjit ones again goes high and Newman bats the ball away with her glove. Top-class from the youngster to keep her team ahead.
Q4, India 2-3 Australia: Finally India are able to press Australia and win the ball in the attacking third and they win a PC.
Q4, India 2-3 Australia: Jyoti and Navneet try to create something from the right but the former’s pass is just a bit ahead of Navneet as she tries to run next to the goalline.
Q4, India 2-3 Australia: A lung-bursting run from Cullum-Sanders through the middle and she looks to scoop it over Savita but the India easily palms it way.
Q4, India 2-3 Australia: India playing like Australia in the first half and vice versa. The Hockeyroos are just one step ahead at this stage.
#Hockey #INDvsAUS Match 2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 20, 2023
Thought it might have been tactical early on to sit back and let Australia have some possession. But looked increasingly as Q3 went on that India were tiring off. Australia have pounced.
Q4 starts, 3-2 AUS.https://t.co/hz4YMh4mcC pic.twitter.com/ckSdDN20VU
End of Q3, India 2-3 Australia: That quarter belonged to Australia as India simply ran out of steam. The visitors have some work to do in the final quarter.
#Hockey #INDvsAUS Match 2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 20, 2023
The intensity of the first half seems to have taken a lot out of the Indians. They are struggling a bit to keep up at the moment physically across the pitch.
PC results in a penalty stroke... and AUS are in the lead, 3-2.https://t.co/hz4YMh4mcC pic.twitter.com/KC3UfO0itU
Q3, India 2-3 Australia: Stewart gets a brace! Utri’s PC comes off the line off Monika’s foot and it a stroke for the home side. Stewart sends Savita the wrong way and the Hockeyroos lead.
Q3, India 2-2 Australia: It’s all Australia now and Cullum-Sanders wins them a PC with some good work on the left.
Q3, India 2-2 Australia: India are tiring out just a bit now and the goal has given Australia the momentum. This will be good test of India’s ability to play as well as they have even after the momentum of the match swings away from them.
Vinayakk: We spoke about PC conversion for India a lot in recent times but PC defence will likely emerge as one of the areas to work on from this series.
Q3, India 2-2 Australia: Australia level the scores! A training ground routine as Utri, in the first battery, fakes and plays a reverse pass. Maddy Fitzpatrick takes her shot and Pippa Morgan deflects it in.
Q3, India 2-1 Australia: Lalremsiami with a good run down the left and she finds Navneet coming through the middle. The Indian gets into the circle and tries to jinx past her marker but cannot. At the other end, Australia win their first PC of the quarter.
Q3, India 2-1 Australia: Australia with their first foray into the Indian half. They try their luck down the left but the Indian defence deals with it without a fuss.
Q3, India 2-1 Australia: Sangita and India pick up from where they left off in the first half and have camped in the Australian half.
Vinayakk: Feels like a completely different India to the one that played the first match. Relentless pressure on Australia in the opening half.
#Hockey #INDvsAUS Match 2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 20, 2023
A goal against the run-of-play for Hockeyroos to take the lead, but Sangita Kumari equalised almost immediately after (great work by Salima). And Gurjit with a superb drag flick to put India ahead. Solid half of hockey. https://t.co/hz4YMh4mcC pic.twitter.com/N2ZQbOobxZ
HT, India 2-1 Australia: A superb half of hockey from India. Savita Punia had very little to do as her relentless forwards and midfielders barely gave Australia the time and space to create chances. A poacher’s finish from Sangita, her second of the series, and a Gurjit Kaur PC goal gives India a very well-deserved lead at half-time.
Q2, India 2-1 Australia: PC for India. Gurjit looks to have missed the trapped ball but Navjot in the second battery smacks it goalwards from a better angle. There are two Indians in front of goal but Bartram comes up with a good save to deny a third.
Q2, India 2-1 Australia: India have been relentless tonight. Australia are being made to defend with their lives only to see India regaining the ball and coming back at them.
Q2, India 2-1 Australia: The Hockeyroos finally with a decent spell of possession. But the ease with which they were picking out the passing lanes last match has been missing tonight.
Shahid Judge: Clever, audacious, ruthless... just a few ways to describe that Gurjit Kaur drag-flick. This was no powerfully drive shot at goal. It was an accurate, looping, slow shot that threw everyone off guard before it crashed into the top right corner. Whether Gurjit meant to hit it like that or not, that was a very clever goal.
Q2, India 2-1 Australia: Australia are pinned in their half by some relentless Indian pressing as former Hockeyroos star Georgia Nanscawen notes in the commentary. And Lalremsiami nearly makes it 3-1 after forcing a turnover but her shot rolls just past the far post.
#Hockey #INDvsAUS Match 2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 20, 2023
A Gurjit Kaur rocket! 🚀 India are in the lead from a PC routine.
(Ah a Gurjit goal against Australia to take the lead...)https://t.co/hz4YMh4mcC pic.twitter.com/augVqt7BBc
Q2, India 2-1 Australia: Gurjit Kaur gives India the lead! WHAT A SHOT! Gurjit arrows her attempt past a couple of Aussie heads right into the top right corner! India lead for the first time in this series.
Q2, India 1-1 Australia: Really good work from the Indian attackers. Jyoti wins the Q’s first PC with some good work on the right.
Shahid Judge: India putting on a show here today with a lot of attacking intent. The excellent team goal, with Salima, Sharmila and Sangita involved, was a good example of the mindset today.
#Hockey #INDvsAUS Match 2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 20, 2023
Salima Tete is a magician in the midfield when she has the space to run with the ball. Brilliant from the midfielder to free up Sharmila and Sangita gets the finish. India equalise.https://t.co/cULcYa6rrS pic.twitter.com/7sSmFRsSyX
End of Q1, India 1-1 Australia: A much better performance this from India. The passes are finding their marks and the Australian players are being constantly put under pressure. Sangita, Salima, Navneet and Sharmila are having a good match so far.
Q1, India 1-1 Australia: India nearly get another! Sangita and Navneet combine really well but the latter’s hopeful back-pass in front of goal is just behind her teammate and Australia escape.
#Hockey #INDvsAUS Match 2
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 20, 2023
India with all the attacking pressure in the opening quarter, had a PC and a couple of decent attacking moves...
...but Australia take the lead with their first PC.https://t.co/hz4YMh4mcC pic.twitter.com/KtckCtmPTP
Q1, India 1-1 Australia: Sangita levels the score! Brilliant run from Salima Tete from the midfield. She feeds it to the unmarked Sharmila who puts it to the back post for Sangita to tap in. Excellent response from India.
Q1, India 0-1 Australia: Stewart scores for Australia! A rocket of a drag-flick from Tatum Stewart to get her first goal for Australia. Went towards the postwoman and find the bottom corner.
Q1, India 0-0 Australia: Careless from Neha in possession as Australia spring the counter through Downes. She gets inside the circle but cannot get past the solid Baljeet Kaur. Once again the Indians lose possession and this time the home side get a PC after the ball hits Baljeet’s foot.
Q1, India 0-0 Australia: Good work from Lalremsiami to win India the first penalty corner of the match. Gurjit takes it and it’s saved really well by Jocelyn Bartram. Lalremsiami tries to put the rebound into goal but Bartram and the Hockeyroos defence does well to get the free out in the goalmouth scramble.
Q1, India 0-0 Australia: India pressing much better today. They try to make something from the right and Gurjit flashes a hopefull cross across goal. It takes a touch and goes across to Ishika. She then tries to find someone with a cross but flies away.
Q1, India 0-0 Australia: Sharmila Devi gets on the attack. Has the one Hockeyroos defender on her and she trips right outside the D. Thought it was a foul on her but the umpire thinks otherwise. Sharmila and her teammates don’t protest either.
Q1, India 0-0 Australia: Australia gets us underway at the MAT stadium. Promising start from India as they press high and get the turnover.
Q1, India vs Australia: Speaking to the local broadcasters, Schopman said it wasn’t a great performance by her team in the first match. Especially on the ball, she wasn’t happy with how the team took care of the ball. Was happy with the response later but the players are disapponted and she hoped for a reaction
Q1, India vs Australia: Right then, both teams are out in the middle. India are playing in their white away jerseys which is a good thing because one won’t get a stroke trying to pick out the Indian players against the blue pitch.
Starting XI 📋
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) May 20, 2023
A strong lineup to take on the Hockeyroos today at Mate stadium Adelaide 💙
Catch all the action live 2:45 pm (IST) onwards on
•DD Sports
•Youtube Link - https://t.co/rQNYZVEjb0
•Fancode
•Watch hockey#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/DuhSRub7ev
Hello and welcome to Scroll’s coverage of Indian hockey as the Savita Punia-led Indian women’s team take on Australia in Adelaide in a three-match Test series.
It’s match No 2.
Janneke Schopman wants her team to be more forceful when playing against higher-ranked opposition but that wasn’t quite the case on Thursday as they fell to a 4-2 loss in the first Test. India take on Australia in the second Test hoping to rectify the mistakes they made on Thursday.
Stay tuned for updates.
India’s full squad:
Goalkeepers: Savita (C), Bichu Devi Kharibam
Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka (VC), Nikki Pradhan, Ishika Chaudhary, Udita, Gurjit Kaur
Midfielders: Nisha, Navjot Kaur, Monika, Salima Tete, Neha, Navneet Kaur, Sonika, Jyoti, Baljeet Kaur
Forwards: Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Sangita Kumari, Sharmila Devi
Match day 🏟️
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) May 20, 2023
India will look to get one back on the Hockeyroos in today's highly contested match 🏑
Catch all the action live 2:45 pm (IST) onwards on
•DD Sports
•Youtube Link - https://t.co/rQNYZVEjb0
•Fancode
•Watch hockey#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/Lgyg2EDDsW
India tour of Australia schedule (as per Hockey Australia):
May 18, Thursday: India 2-4 Australia
May 20, Saturday: India vs Australia at 14:45 IST
May 21, Sunday: India vs Australia at 14:15 IST
May 25, Thursday: India vs Australia A
May 27, Saturday: India vs Australia A
Screenshots in the blog via Fancode / FIH