New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) Australia hammered India 5-2 with their customary speed and verve in a Pool B match of the Hockey World Cup at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here Tuesday evening.

Favourites Australia scored through Liam De Young (2nd minute), Glenn Turner (10th, 43rd), Desmond Abbott (26th) and Like Doerner (42nd). Three of the goals came in the first half before Vikram Pillay (35th) struck seconds before the breather to raise hopes of a turnaround.

But Australia came back hard on the Indian defence at the start of the second half and as Doerner (42nd) and Turner (43rd) struck in quick succession, there was little that India could do except try and reduce the margin which they did through their skipper Rajpal Singh (53rd).

Australia thus bounced back after their shock defeat against England in their tournament opener Sunday.

It was India's fifth loss to Australia in seven World Cup meetings. Their only World Cup win against the Kookaburras came 32 years ago. The last World Cup encounter in 2002 resulted in a 4-3 victory for Australia.

The crowd, which turned out in large numbers, expecting another good performance from the home team after their emphatic 4-1 win over arch rivals Pakistan Sunday night, were disappointed. The loud cheers from the stands grew faint with every passing minute.

Australia, coached by legendary Ric Charlesworth, who was technical consultant of the Indian team, put up a dominating show right from the start, splitting open the Indian defence time and again with telling moves.

The forwards were well-backed by a free-flowing midfield and a strong defence that gave no elbow room to the Indians upfront. Man-of-the-match Robert Hammond was simply brilliant. He ran all over the park, creating chances and simultaneously falling back to bolster the defence.

Australia looked a transformed side while India hardly looked a team that outplayed Pakistan. India missed their star centre forward Shivendra Singh, who had to sit out with a two-match suspension.

The hosts were on the backfoot from the very first minute. The aggression they showed against Pakistan was missing, the defence work was patchy and the forwards never gelled. All in all, Australia outpaced, and outsmarted their opponents in all departments.

It all began when Liam scored from a rebound after the ball came off the crossbar. Then on, Australia controlled the proceedings.

Eight minutes later Australia scored through their second penalty corner that they got through a referral as Turner dived into the dragflick and slammed home.

The third goal was the product of an excellent move by Hammond and De Young who took advantage of the sloppy Indian defence. A diving Desmond Abbott did the finishing work pushing the ball past goalkeeper Adrian D'souza, coming in for P.R. Sreejesh, who played against Pakistan.

The Indians tried to come back and got a couple of chances too before Pillay scored from Gurbaz Singh's cross in the last minute of the first half.

If one expected the Indian team to fight back in the second half, it was not to be. Australia continued to rattle the Indians.

They scored two more goals in succession to put it beyond India. Doerner converted a penalty corner while Turner slotted another.

India's best moment on the field came when Arjun Halappa showed glimpses of the hosts' traditional stick wizadry dribbling past three defenders in close range and put the ball for skipper Rajpal to finish.

India are now on three points from two matches with another three to go. England lead the pool with six points while Australia, Pakistan and Spain are at par with India. South Africa are yet to open their account.