Top batter Virat Kohli hit a brilliant 84 off 98 balls in yet another successful run chase while pace spearhead Muhammad Shami bowled exceedingly well to claim three wickets as India overpowered Australia by four wickets in the first semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 4.
Following the Indian triumph in the first semifinal, Dubai will now stage the final on March 9 instead of Lahore. India will take on winners of the second semifinal between New Zealand and South Africa due to be staged at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on March 5.
Team India lived upto its big reputation with the bat and the ball and advanced to the final without hiccups.
Their only cause of concern was the poor catching and Shami was himself was guilty of dropping caught and bowled chances offered by the likes of Travis Head and Steve Smith, the two most experienced batsmen in the Australia line-up.
Head, who has been a source of constant and serious headache for the Indians across formats, was reprieved when he had still not opened his account.
He was looking to get into his elements more before being safely pouched by Shubman Gill in the deep in the very first over delivered by the reinvented leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy. He scored 39 off 33 balls with the help of two sixes and five fours.
India lost yet another toss, 14th on a trot in One-day Internationals and fourth in as many matches of the ongoing tournament but skipper Rohit Sharma didn’t show any kind of reaction at the outcome, passing the impression that he was not thinking much about it.
Smith, on the other hand, was mighty pleased to have called correctly which allowed him the freedom to choose in the do-or-die contest. His decision to bat first was not unexpected, after having watched the fate of New Zealand in the previous game at the same venue, where the gamble of Mitchell Santner to insert the Indians had backfired.
The Australians realized very quickly, in fact from the opening over, that the pitch at Dubai International Stadium was entirely different in nature to what they had found during league matches in Pakistan. The bounce, and the lack of it, didn’t let them blast the bowlers mercilessly.
Makeshift opener Cooper Connolly couldn’t touch a single delivery before edging the ninth one to wicketkeeper K L Rahul. Head lived dangerously but found boundaries, aided by good fortune.
Smith dropped anchor and kept rotating the strike in the company of Marnus Labuschagne.
With the spinners failing to dislodge the stubborn pair, the Indian skipper recalled Shami who came very close to striking right away.
After playing and missing a few deliveries, Smith ventured driving him but the resulting return catch, hardly a difficult one, was not accepted by the bowler.
Labuschagne (29 off 36 balls) was undone by Ravindra Jadeja but Smith and wicketkeeper Alex Carey took the total to the region of 200 in the 37th over when the skipper was finally castled by Shami for 73 off 96 balls.
This proved to be a critical breakthrough and Australia, looking good for 300, crashed to 265 all out despite Carey’s 61 off 57 balls.
Shami (3-48) was the pick of the Indian bowlers while Jadeja (2-40) and Chakravarthy (2-49) also bowled admirably in crunch situations.
Left-arm spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav sustained the pressure by not allowing easy runs while Hardik Pandya, entrusted with the new ball, kept the pressure by his pace variations.
The target of 265 was never going to be easy in a knockout game and India lost both the openers after a brisk start. It was left to Kohli and Shreyas Iyer to repair the damage and they rose to the occasion by adding 91 for third wicket.
After Iyer’s departure for 45 off 62 balls in the 27th over, Kohli found a reliable partner in Patel and they inched towards victory.
Having smashed an unbeaten century against arch-rivals Pakistan in league outing at the same venue, Kohli again reaffirmed his unmatched class under pressure with another match winning 84.
He was dropped by Glenn Maxwell which was a tough chance. He looked set for his 52nd ODI hundred but got himself out in the 43rd over. It was a rather unusual shot from the master craftsman, spooning a simple catch to long on.
Pandya’s breezy 28 off 24 balls brought India withing a stroke of victory and the job was completed by Rahul in the following over.
The wicketkeeper-batter, often under fire for his inconsistency despite possessing enormous talent, silenced his critics by remaining unconquered on 42 off 34 balls with the winning runs coming with as many as 11 deliveries to spare.
Australia's inexperienced and second-class bowling attack in the absence of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood struggled to keep the Indians in check and the ensuing consecutive partnerships denied any drama or tension in the final overs.
.jpg)
