Ausseis are the sultans

Flowing moves from the wings had the Aussies defence on the hop as Rehan Butt and Shabbir Hussain came close to scoring, which pushed the opposition on the backfoot.

However, a needless stoppage broke the Pakistani concentration, leading to an Australian resurgence. Centre-half Muhammad Saqlain fell to the ground after being tripped by an Aussie player during a Pakistani counter-attack. There was a brief stoppage at this juncture as Saqlain rolled around and it was the breather the Aussies were looking for.

Brooks, gaining possession in the midfield, cut throught the Pakistani defence with a brilliant run and capped it with a reverse hit to the board to put Australia in the lead in the 21st minute.

The Aussies kept pressing and scored again, this time Brooks foxing Pakistani goalkeeper Salman Akbar with a wrongfoot shot after yet another solo run from the 25-yard line. To Pakistan’s credit, they regrouped quickly and forced a free-hit at the top of the circle in the very next minute. Skipper Muhammad Nadeem took a crack into the circle where Jawaad got a touch to put Pakistan back in the game.