The Indian cricket team has, as widely expectedly, defeated Australia in front of a vocal and partisan Dubai fan base to reach the final of the 2025 ICC Cricket Champions Trophy.
Set a target of 265 – their highest so far in three chases here – India won by four wickets with 11 deliveries remaining in the first semi-final, with Virat Kohli’s 84 from 98 balls the fulcrum of a fourth successive win in the tournament.
India will await to see who their opponents are in the final on March 9, with the winner of Wednesday’s New Zealand-South Africa semi-final in Lahore to fly back to the UAE.
Kohli, who scored a century against Pakistan at this ground two games ago, struck just five boundaries but was at ease in the chase during his 135-minute time in the middle. He found allies in Shreyas Iyer (45) and Axar Patel (27) and once he was out for 84, thus missing out on what seemed like a certain 52nd ODI century, the job was completed by KL Rahul (42*) with some finishing touches for the crowds from Hardik Pandya (28).
In his 301st ODI, Kohli strode to the crease after Shubman Gill was bowled off an inside-edge off the left-armer Ben Dwarshuis, and then looked on as Rohit Sharma missed a straight delivery from the debutant Cooper Connolly to be ruled plumb lbw.
Kohli was put down by a leaping Glenn Maxwell at short cover when on 51, the only blemish in what was otherwise an innings of patience and virtue. Kohli played formidably, as did the inform Iyer, but Australia’s bowlers were too often off their mark and consistently offering too many scoring opportunities.
Kohli’s sense of occasion and the big stage were vital to India maintaining the asking rate, and the way he and Iyer ran singles and found the gaps was clinical. Both set players found ways to get themselves out before milestones, with Iyer misjudging the length from Adam Zampa to be bowled for 45, and then on 84, with India needing 40 runs from 44 balls, Kohli chipped a ball from the same bowler to long-on. But Pandya’s three sixes hurried India towards victory, with Rahul holding one end firm. Kohli’s batting average in run chases is now 64.50, easily the best in the format.
After Rohit lost his 11th toss in a row, Steve Smith opted to bat on a fresh pitch – I say fresh only because these 22 yards had not been used in the tournament so far, but otherwise it was as tacky as they come here in Dubai – but Australia’s batting struggled to forge sizeable partnerships that would have gotten them closer to 300.
Dropped on 36 when Mohammed Shami put down a tough caught-and-bowled chance, Smith made 73 from 96 balls and Alex Carey stroked a sublime 61 from 57. But India found a way back each time, and thus ensured they had a target they could achieve without too much fuss.
Travis Head was dropped second ball when a leading edge popped back to Shami’s right, but the bowler failed to get his right hand on the catch. As early as the second over, Head was looking at his bat after a couple mistimed pull shots into the ground as he struggled to time his shots on a tough track. Connolly’s ODI debut was a torrid nine-ball stay at the crease, during which time he played and missed seven times in a row before nicking off Shami to Rahul for 0.
The first four of the innings came in the fourth over when Head drove in the air wide of mid-off, and the next ball brought six as Pandya veered onto the leftie’s pads and was effortlessly clipped over deep square leg. Rohit turned to spin the earliest he has in the tournament by bringing on Kuldeep Yadav to bowl the sixth over, but it was the introduction of Varun Chakvavarthy to bowl the ninth over that send India into raptors.
Second ball, Head advanced and miscued his shot for Gill to cover 23 meters and hold the catch. That wicket was vindication of Rohit’s departure from strategy to use both his wrist-spinners inside the Powerplay.
Australia went 50 deliveries without a boundary, but the presence of Smith and best mate Marnus Labuschagne must have been reassuring for fans of the team. Apart from that drop by Shami Smith had another fortuitous moment when the ball tricked off his pads and onto the base of the stumps, only for the bails to stay on.
Just when it seemed like Smith and Labuschagne had found some momentum, Ravindra Jadeja skidded a ball into the latter’s pads and not to too long after, had Josh Inglis chip a catch to short cover. Smith puttered on to a half-century and looked set for three figures until he charged at Shami and missed a low full toss to be bowled.
Axar Patel then dismissed Maxwell and a gun throw from Iyer in the deep ran out Carey before he could do serious damage, both wickets key to India keeping Australia to 264 when it seemed like they could touch 290 at one stage.
