One step away from glory
The Indian cricket team ensured that the Champions Trophy final will take place in Dubai after it registered a stunning four-wicket win over Australia in the semifinals at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
Once again led by the heroics of Virat Kohli, India avenged their 2023 World Cup final defeat to the same opponents. Despite chasing the biggest target of their current campaign, India rose to the occasion with a controlled batting display. They chased down 265 with four wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare.
Kohli scored a patient 84 off 98 balls, hitting only five fours while running 56 singles and four doubles. He got ample support from Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel before Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul made sure that India beat Australia in the knockouts of an ICC ODI tournament for the first time since the quarterfinal of the 2011 World Cup.
India’s chase, though, got off to a shaky start as openers Shubman Gill and skipper Rohit Sharma were both dismissed as the team’s total read 43. While Gill was bowled by Ben Dwarshuis, Sharma, who got two lifelines, fell prey to Cooper Connolly.
Kohli and Iyer then laid the foundation for India’s win with a 91-run stand. Kohli had near-perfect control and kept the run-rate ticking. Iyer, coming off a half-century against New Zealand, also showed intent. His improved batting stance, the patience to stay long at the crease and effort to keep the strike rotating helped the side get through the tricky middle overs.
Earlier, the Aussies scored 264 all out, the innings mainly revolving around skipper Steve Smith and Alex Carey. Australian skipper Smith (73 off 96 balls) won the toss but the batters could not exploit the conditions. Throughout his stay, Smith was the pillar of the Australian innings, and was involved in three 50-plus stands — 52 with Travis Head for the second wicket, 56 for the third wicket Marnus Labuschagne and 54 for the fifth wicket with Carey. Australia would have been in a much better position had any of these partnerships bloomed into something more substantial.
Mohammed Shami played a big part as he ended with 3/48 on a pitch that offered little to the pacers. Spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets apiece.
“Till the last ball is bowled, nothing is certain,” Sharma said. “Halfway through the game, we felt it was a reasonable score, and we have to bat really well. I thought we were very clinical with the bat. We were very calm and composed. The wicket looked better, and that has been the nature of the surfaces. We just want to play good cricket and not read too much into what the pitch is doing.”
On having six bowling options, he said: “That is something I really wanted, to have six bowling options and then batting till No. 8 as well. This is something we discussed while making the squad. Credit to everyone involved. When you have six bowling options, you can choose from anyone you want.”
On Kohli, he said: “He has done it for us for so many years. We were very calm. We wanted that big stand which Shreyas and Virat had. Then the shots by Hardik in the end were very important.”
Brief scores: Australia 264 (Smith 73, Carey 61; Shami 3/48, Jadeja 2/40, Varun 2/49); India: 267/6 (Kohli 84, Iyer 45, Rahul 42*; Ellis 2/49, Zampa 2/60)
