Virat Kohli played a gritty knock of 84 runs, and Hardik Pandya smashed a quickfire 24-ball 28 to help India beat Australia by four wickets in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday.
Australia, the same squad that beat India in 2023 World Cup final, stood in front of India as a hurdle that needed to be crossed to reach the final.
After bowling out Australia for 264 runs in the tough Dubai wicket that has been mostly supporting spinners, India went to 267 runs for the loss of six wickets with 11 balls to spare.
The Indian run chase was not smooth, with openers Shubman Gill (8) and Rohit Sharma (28) falling in quick succession within eighth over.
Both the openers played some flashy shots before departing, leaving the large number of Indian fans who had assembled in the stadium in disappointment.
India’s master run chaser Virat Kohli held the fort at one end and anchored the march towards victory while the man in form Shreyas Iyer contributed 45 runs to steady the ship after initial rough patches.
Iyer hit three boundaries in his 62-ball knock.
Iyer and Kohli, who had played a crucial partnership in the past as well, stitched a 91-run partnership to move the ship out from the tough situation.
While India’s journey was looking stable, senior leg spinner Adam Zampa struck by picking up the wicket of Iyer to provide Australia a chance to bounce back in the game.
Axar Patel contributed 27 runs and KL Rahul hammered a match-winning 34-ball unbeaten 42 runs at the end to keep India moving in the chase.
Hardik Pandya, who has played several crucial knocks in challenging matches, hit 28 runs.
The key anchor of the innings was Kohli, who once again displayed his skill and quick sense in the game when India needed his contribution.
He hit five boundaries in his 98-ball innings before he was dismissed by Zampa.
Zampa and Nathan Ellis picked up two wickets for Australia.
Australia bowled out
Indian pacer Mohammad Shami picked up three wickets and Ravindra Jadeja scalped two to help India bowl out Australia for 264 runs in 49.3 overs.
Australia won the toss and opted to bat first against India, a team that had won all three Group A stage matches of the tournament so far.
Shami troubled Australia by picking up the wicket of Cooper Connolly for a duck.
Travis Head (39 off 33) tried to recover the innings, but Varun Charavarthy, the spinner who singlehandedly destroyed New Zealand, dismissed him in the ninth over to give Australia another jolt.
Skipper Steve Smith recovered the innings by playing a restricted knock of 73 off 96 balls.
Apart from Smith, Marnus Labuschagne (29 off 36), Josh Inglis (11 off 12) and Alex Carey (61 off 57) were the other major contributors for Australia.
Indian bowlers continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals to keep the pressure on Australia.
The lower order failed to capitalise the start with Glenn Maxwell (7), Ben Dwarshuis (19), Adam Zampa (7), and Nathan Ellis (10) returning early.
Hardik Pandya (1/40), Varun Chakravarthy (2/49), Ravindra Jadeja (2/40), and Axar Patel (1/43) kept picking wickets for Australia.
Dubai To Host Final
Pakistan’s chance of hosting the Champions Trophy final despite being the tournament host received a blow with India’s win in the semi-final.
India played all their group stage matches and the semi-final in Dubai.
India refused to travel to Pakistan amid the deteriorated bilateral relationship between the two neighbours.
Dubai is hosting all the matches of India.
The other semi-final will be played between New Zealand and South Africa.
