IND vs AUS Semifinal: Virat Kohli aced another high-pressure chase as India crushed Australia by 4 wickets to storm into the final of the Champions Trophy 2025. Chasing 265, India romped home thanks to Virat Kohli’s 84 and useful contributions from Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma, Axar Patel and KL Rahul.
This is the third successive Champions Trophy final for India who had won the tournament in 2013 and lost the title clash to Pakistan in 2017.
India bury ghosts of World Cup final
Australia had come to the Champions Trophy without regular captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – the very pace trio which had played crucial roles in their successful World Cup campaign in 2023. India had all their top-order batters intact and all of them were only too happy to bury the ghosts of that final.
Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cooper Connolly, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha and Glenn Maxwell toiled hard but they were never going to stop a star-studded batting line-up from chewing up a middling target on what was perhaps the best pitch in Dubai during this tournament.
Virat Kohli the chase master at work
India started the chase by losing Shubman Gill cheaply but Rohit Sharma once again set the tone with a quick 28 before Virat Kohli did what he does best – he dropped anchor and calmed the dressing room with his presence in the middle and presence of mind. He handled the spinners with a deft touch, punished the loose balls, and ran hard for himself and his partners. Shreyas Iyer was also instrumental in India’s successful chase and continued his good form with a composed 45 before Axar Patel came in and hit a 30-ball 27 to ensure the Aussies could apply no real pressure on Virat Kohli.
While the chase wasn’t as much of a cakewalk as the one against Pakistan 10 days back when the only point of interest was Kohli’s hundred, there was another one for the taking for the chase-master. However, Kohli fell when India were 40 away from victory and he was 16 away from his second hundred of the tournament – while the man himself wasn’t really disappointed, a flustered KL Rahul reminded his partner he was already hitting the aggressive shots.
Fifty for the chase master!
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 4, 2025
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Steve Smith leads from the front
Earlier in the day, Steve Smith had no hesiation in batting first but Australia were never in the game despite a quickfire 39 frm Travis Head. Cooper Connolly, a rookie, got out for a duck to Mohammed Shami, Head fell to Varun Chakravarthy and from thereon, the Australian innings did not gain a lot of momentum.
Steve Smith led from the front with a polished 73 while Alex Carey scored a 57-ball 61 but the Australian middle-order never broke free against the stranglehold of the Indian spinners. Moreover, Mohammed Shami was devastating and finished with 3 for 48 off his 10 overs – the best figures for an India bowler on Tuesday.
India will now wait for the winner of the South Africa – New Zealand semi-final to see who they play in the final in Dubai on March 9.
