Virat Kohli's commanding 84-run innings, combined with an unbeaten 42 from KL Rahul and a quickfire 28-run cameo by Hardik Pandya, guided India to a four-wicket victory over Australia in the first semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
With this victory, India became history makers as the first team ever to make the Champions Trophy final for the third year running. They will compete against the result of the second semifinal when South Africa confront New Zealand at Dubai on 9th March. The win also comes with redemption for India, having suffered at the hands of Australia during the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in a heart-crushing and extremely close manner.
Indian opener Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill placed a solid 30-run partnership while chasing the target of 265, while Rohit donned the belligerent role. They were, though, not successful for long when Ben Dwarshuis ended Gill's run at just 8 in the fifth over. Rohit, who was in good touch with three boundaries and one six in his 28-run innings, got trapped LBW by Cooper Connolly in the eighth over, leaving India at two early casualties during the powerplay.
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer later steadied the ship with an important 91-run third-wicket partnership, setting the foundation for the pursuit. The partnership was interrupted in the 27th over when Adam Zampa sent Iyer back to the pavilion for 45. Kohli, meanwhile, notched up his 74th ODI half-century and went on to become India's highest run-scorer in Champions Trophy history, surpassing Shikhar Dhawan's tally of 701 runs from 2013 to 2017.
Kohli continued to build on the innings with two more partnerships—one with Axar Patel and another with KL Rahul—bringing India closer to victory. However, his departure in the 43rd over, courtesy of Zampa, gave Australia a glimmer of hope. But any chance of an Aussie comeback was quashed by Pandya and Rahul, who stitched together a 34-run stand off 31 balls to take the game away.
Pandya displayed his hard-hitting talent, hitting two towering sixes off Zampa and a four off Ellis before getting out to the latter in the 48th over. Rahul kept calm and completed the chase in fashion by hitting a six off Glenn Maxwell, claiming victory for India with 11 balls remaining.
Earlier in the game, Australia had failed to surpass the 300-run mark due to India’s tight bowling, despite plucky half-centuries from captain Steve Smith and Alex Carey. Mohammad Shami and Hardik Pandya caused movement early on for the Indian pacers, creating opportunities for leavers. However, the match turned on a key opportunity when Shami dropped Travis Head second ball of the innings.
Shami found redemption in his second over, removing Cooper Connolly with a nine-ball duck. A thick outside edge from Connolly passed exceedingly close to the slip corner, and was safely stuck behind the stumps by KL Rahul — but India had its first wicket.
Travis Head then assumed the reins, showering the boundary with a six in quick succession following the pandya. He then continued his onslaught, thumping Shami for three fall in a row, getting 14 pursue the over. As Australia’s batters got going, Rohit Sharma employed Kuldeep Yadav, who started to apply the crunch.
Rohit introduced Varun Chakaravarthy into the attack in the ninth over to break the partnership. The leg-spinner struck straight away, knocking over Head for 39 with a steely catch at long-off by vice-captain Shubman Gill. Marnus Labuschagne soon joined Smith in the middle as the duo ticked the scoreboard along while dealing with the Indian spinners comfortably. In the 14th over, Smith had a near-miss when Axar Patel's delivery struck the stumps but did not hit the bails.
Labuschagne had scored 29 and had added a steady 56 runs with Smith when Jadeja got India yet another breakthrough, trapping him LBW in the 23rd over. Shortly after, Smith raised his 35th ODI half-century in 68 balls, which he celebrated by launching a six over long-off from Jadeja. But in the same over, Jadeja picked up the wicket of Josh Inglis (11) to leave Australia at 144/4 after 27 overs.
Shami’s return to the attack proved decisive, as he removed Smith for 73. The Australian captain had played a key role in stabilizing the innings, forming three vital partnerships with Head, Labuschagne, and Carey. Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell failed to make an impact, falling to Axar Patel for just 7 in the 38th over.
In the latter part, Alex Carey scored a nicely timed knock, scoring his half-century off 48 balls. He shared a short but significant 34-run partnership with Ben Dwarshuis before being dismissed by Chakaravarthy in the 46th over. Chakaravarthy took 2/49, including the valuable scalp of Head. Shreyas Iyer's outstanding direct hit got rid of Carey at 61, with eight boundaries and one six.
In the last overs, Shami struck once more to get rid of Nathan Ellis (10), while Pandya took his first wicket of the match by getting rid of Adam Zampa (7). Australia was bowled out for 264 with three balls left in their innings, giving India a competitive score that they chased down effectively to book their final spot.
Brief scores:
Australia 264 all out in 49.3 overs (Steve Smith 73, Alex Carey 61; Ravindra Jadeja 2-40, Mohammed Shami 3-48, Varun Chakaravarthy 2-49) lost to India 267/6 in 48.1 overs (Virat Kohli 84, Shreyas Iyer 45; Nathan Ellis 2-49, Adam Zampa 2-60) by four wickets.
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