Kookaburras edged out by India in shootout
Published Thu 16 Mar 2023
The Kookaburras have ended their FIH Pro League ‘mini tournament’ in Rourkela with a 4-3 shootout loss to host nation India after scores were locked 2-2 at the end of full time.
Forced to come from behind twice in the contest, Nathan Ephraums scored an impressive double to ensure the Kookaburras took two points from the match.
India shot out of the blocks and went ahead after just two minutes when Sagar Prasad Vivek fired home on the reverse after Harmanpreet Singh’s initial drag flick was blocked.
Jack Welch and Ky Willott had the Kookaburras’ best chances of the opening quarter before Anand Gupte sent a drag flick fizzing just wide of the target and Ephraums hit the post from an acute angle.
Down by the solitary goal at half time, Assistant Coach Anthony Potter implored the Kookaburras to up the tempo and increase the speed of their ball movement.
Gupte was denied again from a penalty corner but the Kookaburras drew level in the 37th minute courtesy of an expertly taken penalty stroke from Ephraums.
India restored their advantage two minutes into the final quarter through Sukhjeet Singh.
However Ephraums had other ideas as he connected on a low hard drive by Tim Howard from a penalty corner to superbly knock the ball in to make it 2-2.
The Kookaburras did not concede a penalty corner after quarter time and despite having the better of the latter stages, they could not find a winner as the match went on to be decided by a shootout.
Both sides converted three of their five attempts sending it to sudden death where Harmanpreet converted before Welch was kept out by Sreejesh to give India the bonus point and leave the hosts unbeaten in their four matches.
Kookaburras captain for the series, Aran Zalewski said the week was a valuable experience for the group, particularly given the learnings and exposure the team’s young contingent would take out of it.
“It was a great experience. We’ve got a lot of young guys here playing in India for the first time,” said Zalewski.
“Over the four games I think we played well enough to win all of them but unfortunately hockey can be a fickle game…we didn’t make the most of our chances and the other teams did.”
The Kookaburras will return home to next prepare for a FIH Pro League mini tournament against New Zealand and Great Britain from 22-30 April in Christchurch.
Match Details
India 2 (Prasad Vivek 2’, Sukhjeet 47’)
Kookaburras 2 (Ephraums 37’/52’)
India wins shootout 4-3
@ Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela
Kookaburras: 1.Lachlan Sharp, 4.Jake Harvie, 7.Nathan Ephraums, 8.Johan Durst (gk), 10.Josh Beltz, 11.Eddie Ockenden, 12.Jake Whetton, 15.Jayden Atkinson, 16.Tim Howard, 17.Aran Zalewski (c), 19.Craig Marais, 20.Ky Willott, 21.Jack Welch, 26.James Collins, 33.Hayden Beltz, 36.Anand Gupte, 44.Ben Staines
Unused substitute: 18.Ben Rennie (gk)
