KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26: Pakistan ended their title drought when they defeated Australia 4-3 in extra time in the six-nation invitational hockey tournament at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Kashif Jawad was the hero of Pakistan as his goal in the 75th minute separated the teams. But Pakistan can consider themselves as lucky as they allowed Australia to come back into the game despite leading 3-1 at one stage.

Rather surprisingly both teams fielded their second choice goalkeepers in the starting eleven. Australia gave the nod to Mark Hickman over Lachlan Dreher while Pakistan opted to use Salman Akbar instead of Qasim Muhammad.

Pakistan started in emphatic fashion and made a goal-scoring attempt in the very first minute itself. Shabbir Muhammad burst through the center but Hickman padded his effort to safety.

Hardly had the cheers from the Pakistani fans died down that Australia threatened to score. Jamie Dywer made his way into the semi circle on the left but a timely tackle by Sohail Abbas meant an opportunity squandered.

Pakistan continued to make inroads into the Aussie territory and their efforts yielded results in the 3rd minute when skipper Sarwar Muhammad sent a pile driver past Hickman.

Australia forced four penalty corners but poor planning and great goalkeeping kept the score intact. But Australia were not to be denied as Troy Elder sent his flick high into the roof of the Pakistani net off their fifth penalty corner in the 14th minute.

A moment of magic by Shahbaz Ahmad who weaved through the Australian defence before picking his spot with a fierce hit enabled Pakistan to regain the lead in the 26th minute.

Pakistan could have added to their tally in the 28th minute but Sohail’s flick off a penalty corner hit the horizontal and into safety.

The second half started in a furious pace where both teams went into attack mode but it was the Pakistanis who scored off a penalty corner.

Sohail Abbas who missed three earlier chances made it count this time crashing his flick into the net passed goalkeeper Hickman in the 44th minute.

The Pakistanis began to lay back and the Australians took this opportunity to create some chances. In one of their raids into the Pakistani border, Daniel Sproule pulled one back in the 57th minute for Australia.

Pakistan had a few good chances after that goal but again Shahbaz and his men missed open opportunities. With just two minutes left before the final hooter, the Kookaburras sounded the board through Matthew Smith from open play to make it 3-3.

The match went into extra time with the Australians moving forward right after the whistle. They left loop holes in the 25 yard line and Shahbaz Ahmad, who was fittingly named man of the match, made a fantastic run on left before laying a pass to top scorer Kashif Jawad who made no mistakes to sound the board just five minutes into extra time.