In the first Semi-final of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, India beat Australia by four wickets to be the first finalist of the tournament.
The Aussies won the toss and elected to bat first. On a dry and slow Dubai surface, Australia started well but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The captain, Steve Smith (73), stirred the innings and laid a steady platform to set a formidable target. Smith was accompanied by Alex Carey (61), who played a counter-attacking knock, and both batters stitched a quick 54-run partnership. The Australians set up a competitive target of 264.
The Indian opening pair didn’t have a fluent start at the crease. Shubman Gill (8) succumbed to an inside edge, while the Indian skipper looked unsteady. Rohit Sharma (28) managed to hit a few boundaries and a six courtesy of two drop catches and was caught in front of the stumps to Cooper Connolly’s flighted delivery. After losing two wickets in the powerplay, the in-form Virat Kohli (84) and Shreyas Iyer (45) conjured a partnership of 91 runs and pulled India back into the game. Kohli and Iyer kept the scoreboard ticking and maintained the run rate. After Iyer’s dismissal, Kohli continued his robust knock and built a small partnership with Axar Patel (27). After the all-rounder’s dismissal, KL Rahul (42*) joined the former Indian captain at the crease and batted with intent to elevate the scoring rate. Nearing yet another century, Kohli lost his wicket in the 43rd over and brought a twist in what was looking like a comfortable chase for the Indians.
The new batter, Hardik Pandya (28), initially took some deliveries to settle in before tonking three sixes. In the process of finishing the innings, Pandya was caught at the boundary, but in the penultimate with four runs needed to win, KL smashed a maximum to help the Men in Blue book a berth in consecutive CT finals.
The Indian bowling department did well to contain the Aussie batters. Mohammed Shami bagged three, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja had two scalps, while Pandya and Axar had a wicket each.
On the other end, Ellis and Adam Zampa registered a brace each, and Ben Dwarshuis and Connolly bagged a wicket each.
Kohli was awarded Man of the Match for his grueling 84 off 98 deliveries with five boundaries.
Scorecard:
Australia: 264/10, Overs 49.3, Steve Smith 73, Mohammed Shami 3/48
India: 267/6, Overs 48.1, Virat Kohli 84, Nathan Ellis 2/49