India, under a new coach after Cedric D'Souza was sacked earlier in the day, thrashed first-timers Cuba 4-0 to record their first win in the World Cup here on Saturday.

It is a moot point that India would have beaten the whipping boys of the tournament without a coach at all.

But the Indians received a shock when D'Souza was sacked on Saturday morning and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) asked assistant coach Chandru Kumar to take over for the remaining matches.

The IHF wanted D'Souza to stay on and assist Kumar, but D'Souza preferred to take the first flight home, saying "he did not want to be where he was not wanted".

The Indians, who lost three of their first four matches and drew one, outplayed the Cubans after leading 3-0 at half-time.

Dilip Tirkey opened the scoring with a penalty corner in the ninth minute, before Daljit Dhillon and Deepak Thakur increased the margin by the 16th minute.

Captain Baljit Dhillon scored the final goal midway through the second half as the Indians again missed several opportunities in front of goal.

Cuba, who qualified for their first World Cup by virtue of being the Pan-American champions, have now conceded 27 goals in five matches and have scored just three.

Kumar, asked by an Indian reporter whether he too should have walked out with D'Souza, said he "did not have a choice".

India play their last two league matches against Australia and Poland before fighting for the lower placings in the classification rounds. SA HOLD SPAIN

Spain's semifinal hopes in the field hockey World Cup took a beating when they were held to a 2-2 draw by a vastly South Africa.

Germany further complicated the tussle in the tough Pool A when they secured a hard-fought 2-1 win over New Zealand.