Virat Kohli’s 84, supported by K.L. Rahul’s unbeaten 42 and Hardik Pandya’s 28-run cameo, helped India win by four wickets over Australia in the first semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy on Tuesday at the Dubai International Stadium.
With this victory, India became the first team to advance to the Champions Trophy final for the third time in a row. They will now face the winner of South Africa’s second semifinal against New Zealand in Dubai on March 9. With this victory, India exacted revenge on Australia, whom they had lost in the ODI World Cup final in 2023.
Chasing 265, skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put together a quick 30-run partnership, with the former acting as the aggressor, before Ben Dwarshuis dismissed the latter for 8 in the fifth over. Cooper Connolly halted Rohit’s 28-run performance, which included three fours and a six, in the eighth over. The spinner trapped the Indian skipper in front of the stumps, resulting in the side’s second dismissal during the power play.
Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then forged a key 91-run stand for the third wicket, laying the groundwork for the run chase. In the 27th over, Adam Zampa broke the stand by bowling Iyer for 45 runs. Meanwhile, Kohli scored his 74th ODI half-century and became India’s leading run-scorer in Champions Trophy history, surpassing Shikhar Dhawan’s total of 701 runs in ten games from 2013 to 2017.
Kohli then formed two more partnerships – with Axar Patel and Rahul – to help India come closer to its goal. He was eventually bowled by Zampa in the 43rd over, offering Australia a slim chance of a comeback, but Pandya and Rahul made sure to squander that opportunity with a 34-run stand off 31 deliveries.
Pandya hit two big sixes off Zampa and a four against Ellis before being bowled by the latter in the 48th over. Rahul scored the winning runs, hitting six off Glenn Maxwell to lead India home with 11 balls to spare.
Earlier, despite half-centuries from captain Steve Smith and Alex Carey, India’s disciplined bowling prevented the ODI World Champions from reaching 300 runs. The first power-play showed movement from both Indian pacers Shami and Hardik Pandya, giving India an early opportunity to celebrate in the match, but Shami dropped Travis Head on the second ball of the session.
In his second over, Shami dismissed Cooper Connolly for a nine-ball duck, drawing first blood. KL Rahul caught a delicate outside edge off Connolly’s bat behind the stumps.
Head smacked Pandya for four and six in the next over, establishing his presence in the middle. After clearing mid-off for a boundary, Head enhanced it with a brilliant flick over deep square leg for a maximum. Head resumed his onslaught on Shami, hammering him for a hat-trick of boundaries, totalling 14 from the over.
With the pacers leaking runs, Rohit Sharma introduced Kuldeep Yadav into the attack, and he kept things tight against Head and Steve Smith.
In pursuit of a wicket, Rohit brought in Varun Chakaravarthy in the ninth over. The right-arm leg break delivered precisely what was anticipated of him, dismissing Head for 39 after he hit five fours and two sixes. Vice-captain Shubman Gill made a stunning catch at long-off to give India their second wicket of the match. Marnus Labuschagne joined Smith in the middle, and the two batted brilliantly against the Indian spinners, keeping the scoreboard ticking along. Smith survived in the 14th over after Axar’s delivery touched the stumps, but the bail remained in place.
Smith and Labuschagne combined for 56 runs, bringing the total to three figures. Jadeja ended the partnership with the removal of Labuschagne (29), who was caught in front of the wickets for lbw in the 23rd over.
Meanwhile, Smith achieved his half-century in 68 balls, his 35th in ODIs. Just after reaching fifty, Smith charged Jadeja over long-off, smashing the first six runs of his innings. In the same over, Jadeja dismissed Josh Inglis (11) to end the partnership and put Australia at 144/4 after 27 overs.
Shami’s return to the attack gave India reason to cheer after he dismissed Smith for 73. The Australian skipper took part in three 50-partnerships with Head, Labuschagne, and Alex Carey. However, Glenn Maxwell fell short of expectations, being bowled out for 7 by Axar in the 38th over.
Carey played a steady knock in the end, completing his half-century off 48 balls and forming a 34-run partnership with Ben Dwarshuis for the seventh wicket until Chakaravarthy dismissed the latter in the 46th over. Chakaravarthy finished his ten overs with figures of 2-49, including the critical scalp of Head. Shreyas Iyer’s razor-sharp direct smash from the outfield brought a stop to Carey’s 61-run innings, which included eight fours and a six.
Shami caught Nathan Ellis (10) in the penultimate over before Pandya claimed his first wicket of the match by dismissing Adam Zampa (7) to bowl Australia out for 264 with three balls remaining in the innings.
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