the Indian men's hockey team Australia lost 5-1 to hosts Australia in the first match of the five-match series in Perth on Saturday.

Tim Brand (3'), Tom Wickham (20' and 38'), Joel Rintala (37') and Flynn Ogilvie (57') scored for the home team while Gurjant Singh (47') scored for the visitors.

The first quarter began with the two Tokyo Olympic medalists looking for an early goal. Australia, who are one place behind India in the world number five hockey rankings, looked much better with possession and took the lead thanks to Brand's goal.

The Kookaburras were awarded successive penalty kicks in the next few minutes but the Indian goalkeeper failed to score PR Sreejesh He made some good saves to keep the score at 1-0. India also got a penalty kick in the ninth minute but failed to convert it.

The second quarter was played at a similar pace with Australia transitioning better between attack and defence.

Manpreet SinghThe captain of the bronze medal-winning Indian team at the Tokyo Olympics awarded a penalty kick for India in the 18th minute but the opportunity was lost after a missed trap.

Australia continued to penetrate the circle repeatedly and doubled their lead through a Tom Wickham field goal in the 20th minute. India blocked Australian captain Arran Zalewski's first attempt but Wickham converted from the rebound.

Field goals from Tom Wickham, his second of the day, and Joel Rintala had India trailing 4-0 in the third quarter.

An early corner kick for Australia in the final quarter threatened to do more damage but a block followed by a quick free-kick from India gave the visitors their first goal of the match through Gurjant Singh in the 47th minute.

But Australia restored their four-goal lead from a corner kick by Flynn Ogilvie 10 minutes later.

The Indian men's hockey team will take on Australia in the second match at the same venue on Sunday. The five-match series, part of India's preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics, concludes on April 13.