Ghana, with a point for this draw, haul themselves to the top of Group D, their pleasure tempered by the fact they still have to play Germany. Australia will feel proud at having earned a precious point, but they are hanging on to their World Cup hopes by the thinness of a Kookaburra's beak.

They still have to play Serbia, who on Friday beat Germany. It's looking rather interesting.

High on energy and passion but low on finishing and the finer points, there were times when this match was as stodgy as week-old pap stuck on the bottom of the potjie.

Then there were times when it flared to life, notably late in the second half, when a raft of substitutions and an increasingly frustrated crowd willed both sides to take the game out of its stalemate and into something more definitive.

For all their endeavour Ghana, after a promising first half in which they equalised from a 25th-minute Asamoah Gyan penalty after a Brett Holman poach had put Australia ahead, seemed content to power themselves through the middle.

They were frequently reduced to shooting speculatively from range - especially in the second half - and although Gyan was their best player, there was a bludgeoning aspect to their play which might have been solved by playing a wider game.

Having Harry Kewell sent off early, the Australians could be forgiven for conservatism, the caveat to this being that having been trounced by the Germans in their opening game, there was reason to pursue a win.

Certainly they had their chances. Scott Chipperfield headed over the crossbar and Luke Wilkshire forced a smart save from Richard Kingson in the Ghana goal as the match galloped toward an exciting final quarter.

Then Anthony Annan got in on the act, felling Chipperfield as the substitute hared forward. The free-kick was dealt with but the balance of of the match was tilting in the Socceroos' direction. Joshua Kennedy, a second-half substitute, created havoc at the back as the Ghanaian defence struggled to deal with his height.

Australia had started well. Eleven minutes in and Carl Valieri burrowed through the Ghana midfield, forcing a free kick within promising range. The kick was taken by Mark Bresciano, the ball bouncing awkwardly in front of Kingson, who dealt with it in such a way as to suggest that there's a reason that he's Wigan Athletic's third-choice keeper.

Holman was on hand to slot home the opener, the perfect answer to twitchy Australian nerves.

Halfway through the first half and Andre Ayew weaseled away on the right for Ghana. He engineered enough space to fire in a cross, which was met by the defender, Jonathan Mensah. His shot goalwards was adjudged by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti to have hit Kewell's arm; Kewell was red-carded and Gyan sent Mark Schwartzer the wrong way with his penalty for the scores to be levelled.

Kewell's sending off forced Australia to rejig. His all round strength and ability in the air meant they lacked someone to hold the ball up and more work was transferred to a furiously labouring midfield, where both Valieri and Jason Culina were prominent.

Still, Australia looked like a side with more possibility than demonstrated in their first game against Germany. David Carney gave them some pace down the left and Brett Emerton, although hamstrung by Kewell's sending off, played a heroic role as a lonely scavenger up front.

Ghana didn't quite convince. High on industry, they aren't the quickest of teams. Joachim Loew was in the stands yesterday evening. He will have noticed that they are buffaloes rather than gazelles.

Although they are top of the group, you rather feel that the leaders might have gained all their World Cup points.