11 March,2010 10:58 PM IST | | Agencies
Australia defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-final of the Hockey World Cup and set up their third consecutive title clash with Germany.
Australia's penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner opened the scoring. Glenn Turner increased the lead to 2-0 in the second half before Taeke Taekama pulled one back for the Netherlands through a penalty stroke.
Earlier England outplayed Germany 4-1 in the first semi-final
Germany scored through Jan-Marco Montag (6th minute) and Oliver Korn (11) to take a 2-0 lead before Richard Smith (18) converted a penalty corner to pull one back for England. Martin Haner (31st) slotted the third goal for Germany before the halftime.
Two times champion Germany (60th) added one more through Linus Butt and remains on course for a hat-trick of titles.
With the win, Germany also avenged their loss to England in the final of the European championship last year.
