INDIA VS AUSTRALIA , 1ST SEMI FINAL , DUBAI, ICC CHAMPION TROPHY 2025 : Kohli’s Masterclass Propels India to Third Champions Trophy Final.
India defeated Australia by 4 wickets to reach the final of Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Tuesday, with Virat Kohli shining with a knock of 84 runs. The Rohit Sharma-led unit chased a target of 265 runs in 48.1 overs. Along with Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (45), KL Rahul (42 not out) and Hardik Pandya (28) also contributed vitally in the run chase. Earlier, India invited to bowl first, had bowled out Australia for 264, courtesy a disciplined bowling effort. Mohammed Shami was the standout of the Indian bowlers with 3 for 48 while Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja claimed two wickets each. Steve Smith was the highest scorer for Australia, making 73 off 96 balls. India will face the winner of South Africa against New Zealand match in the final. Kohli’s Masterclass Propels India to Third Champions Trophy Final.
TOSS-
Australia won the toss and decided to bat.
TEAMS LINE UP-
INDIA(PLAYING XI)-
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
AUSTRALIA(PLAYING XI)-
Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha
AUSTRALIA-
It rounded out a similarly efficient showing with the ball that had limited Australia to a par-score of 264 after they were asked to bat . India had an unchanged team, which meant four frontline spinners were employed in the attack. A pitch which was new, and heard an Australian batting line-up step up to reverse the pressure, did not face the level of domination the game before. But they nonetheless managed to make an impact throughout. It began with Varun Chakravarthy, who got Travis Head with his first ball, India’s nemesis miscuing a loft to long off. Head had a hit and miss 39 off 33. After all 11 balls he faced before that had produced just a single, he found a giddy rhythm. Mohammed Shami’s round-the-wicket line to both of Australian openers – Cooper Connolly was the other – had been cause for some problems straight-up. Head had also been let off first ball when Shami was unable to hold a leading edge on his follow-through. But the pacer won more than he lost against Connolly, beating his outside edge repeatedly, before then inducing an edge which ended a scratchy 9-ball duck.
Head’s own foray into acceleration was being nipped in the bud before the pair ran into Steven Smith. The most assured of all the batters: the Australian captain, who immediately marked his intentions with a lofted boundary off Axar Patel in his first over. He did benefit from the rub of the green on a few occasions as the bail did not dislodge after an inside edge off Patel struck the stumps and later, Shami dropped a more difficult return catch. The Smith-Labuschagne pair had kept the innings waiting for 50 balls for a boundary before the latter found one with a fine late cut. To try and disrupt the left-arm finger spinners, Labuschagne also brought out the slog sweep, but fell in a similar manner when Jadeja trapped his plumb in front to end a 56-run partnership., while Smith was raising his fifty off 66 balls – this was his fifth time past that in 7 ICC ODI knockout games – played anchor well. At the other end, however, the support was drying up with Josh Inglis lobbing an easy catch to cover on 11.
But it was the arrival of Alex Carey that gave the innings more momentum. His stand of 54 with Smith at a run-a-ball through the middle overs, with the spinners taking the brunt of the assault. In the partnership, it was Carey who was aggressive and, after that, he almost single-handedly directed Australia through the rest of its innings. It ended with Smith having jumped out against Shami and missed a full toss on 73. Axar added to Australia’s woes by claiming Glenn Maxwell with his next delivery after it disappeared to the boundary. But Carey assumed the mantle from then on bringing up a fifty in just 48 balls and played a big hand in making Kuldeep Yadav ineffective. But when he was setting himself for a big finish, Rushworth was well run out by a direct hit at the non-striker’s end courtesy Shreyas Iyer after attempting to take another run. Carey’s loss as Australia’s eighth wicket with the second last ball of the penultimate over deprived them of a late dash and they were bowled out for 264 in the last over.
INDIA-
Kohli anchored the chase through a little muddled waters to ensure India never left the course. His entrance to the pursuit was early with Shubman Gill chopping on within the fifth over. But Rohit Sharma was having his luck too, having already been dropped twice, and he was playing the characteristic aggressor early on, not too afraid to push the powerplay’s limitations. He slothed 28 off 29 before falling to a sweep misguided about the left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly who trapped him LBW. With Australia looking to make further inroads, the chase was in the balance at 43/2 inside eight overs. But with a steady Shreyas Iyer alongside him, Kohli navigated a concerning period with relative ease. The pair were also adept at milking Australia’s spinners, taking much of the risk out of the equation. Their stand of 91 brought the chase back on track while also giving a solid base to build from.
Kohli reached his 74th ODI half-century but was dropped soon after. Connollly lured a leading edge which a diving Glenn Maxwell dropped at short-extra cover. Iyer, who had been solid up to that point, was bowled for 45 by a Zampa slider. But Kohli had another able ally on the other side in Axar Patel, who got his eye in with a slog-swept six off Tanveer Sangha. Their 44-run stand (50b) took India closer to the target without ever letting the required run-rate get away.
Being on a slow surface, Australia managed to drag the game deep by claiming regular wickets. Axar was later bowled by Nathan Ellis with a shortish delivery that skidded onto the offstump. KL Rahul, who came in next, got into a near identical mould while Kohli held one end up skillfully. India needed 65 with six wickets in hand with ten overs to go. Rahul tapped a few limits in the following overs to proceed to reverse the tension. He lofted another off Adam Zampa to further tilt the equation. But the same over saw Kohli, uncharacteristically, attempt a loft off Zampa in the air but ended up going straight to long on. The equation was still run-a-ball and Australia had a sniff of pulling themselves back into the game.
It was Hardik Pandya who did his hitting right, picking up three sixes against the legspinners as India ransacked forward. Pandya’s 24-ball 28 turned the contest decisively the hosts’ way as the chase was completed with 11 balls remaining.
Brief Scores:
Australia 264 all out in 49.3 ov (Steven Smith 73, Alex Carey 61; Mohammed Shami 3-48) lost to India 267/6 (Virat Kohli 84, Shreyas Iyer 45, KL Rahul 42\*) by 4 wickets .