In another Pool B match on the opening day, Olympic silver medalist Spain recovered from a slow start to beat South Africa 4-2.

Shivendra Singh gave India the lead in the 25th minute after capitalizing on a penalty corner rebound, and Sandeep Singh made it 2-0 just before halftime with a low shot.

Prabhjot Singh struck in open play in the 37th after a pass from Arjun Halappa, and Sandeep Singh scored with a drag-flick in the 56th. Pakistan pulled one back through a penalty corner conversion by Sohail Abbas three minutes later.

It was India's first victory against Pakistan at a World Cup since 1975.

"It's just a normal win and three points for us, we must keep our feet on the ground," India coach Jose Brasa said.

"We dominated the first half, but we were not up to mark in second half and still managed to score two lucky goals." Pakistan coach Shahid Ali Khan said India was the better team.

"After falling behind by three goals, it was always going to be difficult to bounce back," Khan said. "But this isn't the end of the tournament." England recorded its first win over Australia at a World Cup since 1975, winning 3-2 after James Tindall scored twice for the European champions.

Tindall converted a penalty corner in the 34th minute and found the net in open play in the 45th. England's first goal came from a rasping penalty corner drag-flick by Ashley Jackson in the 25th.

Captain Jamie Dwyer scored in the 23rd and 66th minutes for Australia, which converted one of 13 penalty corners.

"Beating Australia is a nice feeling, but our performance could have been better. We must not give our opponents so many chances as we gave to Australia today," England captain Barry Middleton said. "I never thought of ourselves as underdogs. Our target is to make the semifinals and this will victory will definitely help." Australia coach Ric Charlesworth blamed his team's inability to convert chances.

"Losing the first game is obviously very disappointing.

We made enough chances. If we can't (score from) them, the blame is on us," said Charlesworth, who captained Australia to its only World Cup title, beating England in the 1986 final.

"There are no real surprises at international hockey.

We've been in such situations before."

New Delhi's Dhyan Chand Stadium was guarded by nearly 19,000 personnel to protect players, officials and spectators in a 3-kilometer radius of the venue and accommodation for the 12 competing nations.

Paramilitary commandos and a bomb-disposal squad were part of the multiple security cordons inside and around the stadium.

Security fears were raised following reported threats by some terrorist organizations against athletes visiting India.

In the other Pool B match, South Africa twice stunned the defense in the first session to go in level at 2-2 at the interval but the Spaniards asserted its supremacy afterward.

"We expected a tough contest from the South Africans," Spain captain Pol Amat said. "It was 2-2 at halftime but we were confident of dominating the second half." Julian Hykes scored for South Africa in the 16th minute, dribbling into the striking circle before beating goalkeeper Francisco Cortes with a flick into the cage.

Spain hit back with goals from Ric Oliva in the 19th minute and David Alegre in the 21st to take the lead, but Ian Haley equalized for South Africa with a flash strike in the 30th minute.

Spain seized command in midfield in the second session, and Rodrigo Garza's opportunistic strike put it ahead in the 45th minute. Pau Quemada rounded off the scoring with a drag flick penalty corner conversion in the 60th.

"We should have capitalized on some more chances that came our way, but we're an eccentric team and we got emotional," South Africa captain Austin Smith said.