India chased down the 265-run target in a nailbiting thriller against Australia in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2025 and became the first team to enter finals.
Virat Kohli’s stellar 84-run knock helped the side to March towards victory against mighty Australia.
They secured a four-wicket win with KL Rahul finishing the match with a huge six at Dubai. The all-round performance in the batting and bowling department helped India to make another step towards ultimate glory.
Speaking of the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first where Travis Head and Cooper Connolly opened the inning while Shami made the bowling attack.
Mohammed Shami dropped Travis Head for a duck but made a bounce back in the third over by dismissing Cooper Connolly for a nine-ball duck. Though Australia lost an early wicket, their key player Travis Head made a stand and started to add runs for the team.
While Steve Smith and Travis Head’s combination looked dangerous, Varun Chakravarthy made a necessary breakthrough by dismissing dangerous Travis Head for 39 runs off the very first delivery he bowled against the left-handed batter in Champions Trophy 2025.
After surviving a couple of dismissal chances, Travis Head was expected to be a game-changer for Australia but Rohit made a surprise move by introducing Varun in the ninth over.
India edge out Australia in a nervy chase to punch their ticket to the #ChampionsTrophy Final 🎫#INDvAUS 📝: https://t.co/hFrI2t8AC9 pic.twitter.com/ftpmHXJ2m4
— ICC (@ICC) March 4, 2025
In the second delivery of the ninth over, Varun Chakravarthy tossed up full on off and middle while Head got forward to loft and miscued it. Gill who stood at long off position ran forward and took an impressive catch to dismiss Head.
In the very first legal delivery of the inning, Mohammed Shami drops Travis Head for a duck later Travis Head survives a direct throw from Jadeja.
Following Head’s dismissal, Australia captain Steve Smith took charge and started to add runs while partnering with Marnus Labuschagne. The duo added 56 runs for the next wicket.
Ravindra Jadeja broke the partnership by dismissing Labuschagne for 29 runs. Though Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell departed without making an impact on the scoreboard, Smith’s 73 and Alex Carey’s 61 pushed Australia to score 264 runs after losing 10 wickets with three balls left to bowl.
Chasing the target of 265, India lost the wickets of openers early. They lost the wickets of Shubman Gill (8) and Rohit Sharma (28) to Dwarshuis and Connolly within the powerplay crumbling at 43/2. However, they went on to score 55 runs in the first 10 overs.
The 91-run partnership between Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer has stabilized India’s innings and driven the side forward in their run chase. With Shreyas closing fifty, Zampa dismissed him for 45 runs breaking the solid partnership.
Shreyas rocks back to cut and misses as the length isn’t short enough and the delivery crashes into the off-stump. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli slammed his 74th ODI fifty.
Following Shreyas Iyer dismissal, Axar Patel came to the crease and joined Virat Kohli in the 264-run chase. Getting comfortable in the middle overs, Axar Patel lost his wicket to Nathan Ellis for 27 runs.
KL Rahul joined Virat Kohli in the chase and put the side in driver seat with crossing 200 run mark in their innings.
Hardik Pandya who came to bat at no. 7 made a cameo performance smashing 3 sixes and 1 four of his 28 runs before being dismissed by Nathan Ellis.
Along with Jadeja, KL Rahul (42*) completed their innings with 11 balls to spare in their innings.
