The Kookaburras have thrashed India 5-1 in their opening match at the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Malaysia.
Blake Govers gave the Kookaburras an early lead, scoring a penalty corner for Australia after only five minutes of Thursday's opening clash. India responded immediately with a penalty corner of their own courtesy of a low drag flick from Rupinder Pal Singh.
Reaching a milestone 100 caps, Jake Whetton followed up with a field goal 13 minutes into the opening quarter.
Eddie Ockenden and Simon Orchard stretched the lead out to 4-1 with a field goal each in the second quarter. The third quarter was relatively slow, with no goals from either side.
Matt Gohdes took the Kookaburras out to 5-1 with a field goal in the 53rd minute of the game after a brilliant pass from Simon Orchard.
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"The 5-1 score tonight was very flattering but we didn't create as many opportunities as we might normally," said Kookaburras coach Graham Reid.
"It was a really good, tough match which is why we are here, and we'll take away some good learnings from the game today. Playing with smaller numbers than usual was a real challenge in the heat and was a really good test for us."
