Realising that goal difference could come into play in case of a tie for a second place in the pool behind favourites Australia, the Indian girls went on the offensive from the start.

Pritam Rani, who has already scored six goals in first two games, opened the scoring. India went 2-0 up in the sixth minute through Kamla Dalal who drew goalkeeper Gan Lai Ling out to scoop the ball into the open goal. The third goal was scored by Sandeep Kaur off a penalty corner in the 13th minute and, a minute later, Pritam was back in business to make it 4-0.

After the interval, Malaysia pulled one back through Che Inan Melati but in the 61st minute, skipper Sita Gussain converted a stroke after Anita Teng obstructed her in front of thegoal. Kamla Dalal completed the tally in the 65th minute.

Later, Indian coach GS Bhangu said the girls were affected somewhat by the partisan home crowd, but they handled it well. The Malaysian coach Michael Paul Engelblik said: ``We played our usual game and I am satisfied with the result. We were not hoping to beat India as they have improved since the World Cup.''

Other results

Pool A: Australia 12 (Juliet Haslam 2, Kristen Towers 4, 8, 43 & 51, Katrina Powell 10th, Claire Mitchell-Taverner 12 & 34, Michelle Andrews 23 & 66, Alyson Annan 33, Bianca Langham 49) bt Jamaica 0 (HT: 8-0). Scotland 2 (Pauline Robertson 8, Rhona Simpson 32) bt Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Nicole Dixon 28).