NEW DELHI: Australia defeated the Netherlands 2-1 on Thursday to qualify for a third successive final against defending champions Germany in the Hockey World Cup.
The Kookaburras recorded their 10th win in a row over the Dutch in major competitions to set up Saturday's title clash between the top two teams in the sport.
Luke Doerner and Glenn Turner scored once in each half, before Taeke Taekema converted a penalty stroke 12 minutes from the end to narrow the margin.
Doerner and Taekema, the two leading penalty corner specialists, head the goal-scorers list in the tournament with seven goals apiece.
Germany won the last two World Cup finals against Australia in 2002 and 2006, before adding the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The Germans, hoping to become the first team in history to bag a hat-trick of titles, outclassed England 4-1 in the other semi-final to avenge their defeat in the European Cup final last year.
Germany took a 2-0 lead by the 11th minute as Jan-Marco Montag converted a penalty corner and Oliver Korn deflected in a pass from the right.
England, playing their first World Cup semi-final since 1986, made it 1-2 in the 19th minute with their lone penalty corner of the match when Richard Smith scooped the ball into the net.
Martin Haner and Linus Butt scored on either side of the break to seal the emphatic win for the champions.
The Germans, with just three players who helped win the last World Cup at home in Moenchengladbach in 2006, remain the only unbeaten team in the current tournament with four wins and two draws.
"It was a tough match, the scoreboard does not reflect what happened on the field," said German coach Markus Weise.
"We were clinical, but then a coach is not always pleased. If we had not scored two early goals and England had scored one, it would have been a different game."
England coach Jason Lee said his team's lack of experience told in the end.
"Germany has played in 11 World Cup semi-finals and this was only our second," he said. "We lagged in experience, but we will learn from our defeat.
"Going 2-0 down softly was the turning point. The semi-final did not do justice to the way we played in this tournament."
Australian coach Ric Charlesworth, who played in his team's lone World Cup-winning team in 1986, hoped it will be "third time lucky" against the Germans.
"Semi-finals are always difficult and this too was a difficult game," he said.
"We learnt from our earlier mistakes and stepped up our game. Now I hope we play a further step up in the final.
"Germany are very consistent in their game and have high quality players around the field. They don't have any weaknesses, but we have to find some in the final.
"Who knows, it could be third time lucky for us."
Earlier, four-time champions Pakistan slumped to an embarrassing 3-2 defeat by Canada on Thursday to finish last for the first time in the sport's premier event.
Scott Tupper scored a golden goal two minutes before the end of extra-time in the play-off for the 11-12 positions to hand Canada their first win in the tournament.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) reacted to the defeat by sacking the team management, including manager Asif Bajwa and coach Shahid Ali Khan, and the selection committee.
In a separate statement, the PHF's media manager Shahzad Malik said the entire 18-man squad had offered to "retire from international hockey".
The Kookaburras recorded their 10th win in a row over the Dutch in major competitions to set up Saturday's title clash between the top two teams in the sport.
Luke Doerner and Glenn Turner scored once in each half, before Taeke Taekema converted a penalty stroke 12 minutes from the end to narrow the margin.
Doerner and Taekema, the two leading penalty corner specialists, head the goal-scorers list in the tournament with seven goals apiece.
Germany won the last two World Cup finals against Australia in 2002 and 2006, before adding the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The Germans, hoping to become the first team in history to bag a hat-trick of titles, outclassed England 4-1 in the other semi-final to avenge their defeat in the European Cup final last year.
Germany took a 2-0 lead by the 11th minute as Jan-Marco Montag converted a penalty corner and Oliver Korn deflected in a pass from the right.
England, playing their first World Cup semi-final since 1986, made it 1-2 in the 19th minute with their lone penalty corner of the match when Richard Smith scooped the ball into the net.
Martin Haner and Linus Butt scored on either side of the break to seal the emphatic win for the champions.
The Germans, with just three players who helped win the last World Cup at home in Moenchengladbach in 2006, remain the only unbeaten team in the current tournament with four wins and two draws.
"It was a tough match, the scoreboard does not reflect what happened on the field," said German coach Markus Weise.
"We were clinical, but then a coach is not always pleased. If we had not scored two early goals and England had scored one, it would have been a different game."
England coach Jason Lee said his team's lack of experience told in the end.
"Germany has played in 11 World Cup semi-finals and this was only our second," he said. "We lagged in experience, but we will learn from our defeat.
"Going 2-0 down softly was the turning point. The semi-final did not do justice to the way we played in this tournament."
Australian coach Ric Charlesworth, who played in his team's lone World Cup-winning team in 1986, hoped it will be "third time lucky" against the Germans.
"Semi-finals are always difficult and this too was a difficult game," he said.
"We learnt from our earlier mistakes and stepped up our game. Now I hope we play a further step up in the final.
"Germany are very consistent in their game and have high quality players around the field. They don't have any weaknesses, but we have to find some in the final.
"Who knows, it could be third time lucky for us."
Earlier, four-time champions Pakistan slumped to an embarrassing 3-2 defeat by Canada on Thursday to finish last for the first time in the sport's premier event.
Scott Tupper scored a golden goal two minutes before the end of extra-time in the play-off for the 11-12 positions to hand Canada their first win in the tournament.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) reacted to the defeat by sacking the team management, including manager Asif Bajwa and coach Shahid Ali Khan, and the selection committee.
In a separate statement, the PHF's media manager Shahzad Malik said the entire 18-man squad had offered to "retire from international hockey".
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