Champions Trophy: India beat Australia to reach final as Virat Kohli capitalises on Glenn Maxwell's costly drop
Virat Kohli scores 84 after being dropped on 51 as India beat Australia to reach Champions Trophy final; title favourites dismissed opponents for 264 in Dubai; watch second semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand on Sky Sports on Wednesday (9am first ball)
Wednesday 5 March 2025 06:07, UK
Virat Kohli's 84 and towering sixes from Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul helped India into their third consecutive Champions Trophy final as the tournament favourites clinched a four-wicket win over a game Australia in Dubai.
Rohit Sharma's side - who will face New Zealand or South Africa at the same venue on Sunday - reached a target of 265 with 11 balls to spare and will now attempt to go one better than 2017 when they lost to Pakistan in the final in England.
Kohli, who was dropped by Glenn Maxwell at short cover on 51 off the bowling of Cooper Connolly, shared important partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (45), Axar Patel (27) and Rahul (42no off 34) before holing out off Adam Zampa with 40 runs required from 44 deliveries.
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Hardik (28 off 24) slammed successive straight sixes off leg-spinner Zampa to close out the 47th over, reducing the task to 12 off 18 and all but extinguishing Australia's hopes of an upset, with Rahul then sealing victory by mowing Maxwell for a maximum.
Steve Smith (73 off 96) and Alex Carey (61 off 57) had underpinned Australia's 246 all out, with India quick Mohammed Shami (3-48) the pick of the attack, although dropped two catches off his own bowling.
Shami bowled a charging Smith in the 37th over with the score on 198 and Australia only mustered a further 66 runs from that point, with potential dangerman Maxwell (7) falling in the over after Smith and one ball after he had creamed Axar into the stands.
Shami's two dropped catches ultimately cost India 76 runs.
First, he grassed Travis Head (39 off 33) on nought from the first legal ball of the match moving one-handed to his right, while he then shelled Smith on 36 shuffling one-handed to his left, helping the Australia captain register a 35th ODI fifty.
Rohit also benefited from dropped catches at the start of the run chase, spilt on 13 at point by Connolly in the second over and then on 14 in the third as Marnus Labuschagne failed to grasp a chance running back from mid-off, before he was finally pinned lbw on the sweep by left-arm spinner Connolly for 28, leaving India 43-2.
The costliest drop of all, though, was Maxwell's of Kohli, with the fielder perhaps put off by bowler Connolly being in his line of vision.
Smith enjoys moments of fortune to top-score for Australia
In the Australia innings, Smith also enjoyed a slice of fortune on 23 when he clipped a delivery from Axar onto his stumps but the bails stayed on and he went on to share fifty stands with Labuschagne (29) and Carey before the runs dried up after his exit.
Carey did clinch a 48-ball fifty - his second in as many innings - before being run out the 48th over by Shreyas' direct hit.
India are playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai having not travelled to host nation Pakistan due to political tensions.
Much was made of the impact their spinners could make on a dry surface and they did play a role - Ravindra Jadeja (2-40) ousting Labuschagne and England's tormentor Josh Inglis (11) and Varun Chakravarthy (2-49) removing Head and No 8 Ben Dwarshuis (19).
But Shami was the most impressive with a highlight giving Head's opening partner Connolly - in for the injured Matthew Short - a thorough working over, beating his bat five times in row in the third over before nicking him off for a torturous nine-ball duck.
Head - dubbed Travis 'Headache' by commentator Ravi Shastri after scoring centuries against India in the 2023 World Test Championship final and 50-over World Cup final later that same year - struck three successive fours off Shami in one over and four and six off Hardik in another before skying Varun into the deep.
Despite that cameo and half-centuries for Smith and Carey, Australia always looked short of runs and so it proved.
Dwarshuis forced Shubman Gilll (8) to chop on in the powerplay, while the dismissals of Shreyas and Axar - bowled by Nathan Eliis and Zampa respectively - and finally Kohli kept Australia in with a sniff but their inexperienced attack was ultimately snuffed out.
Kohli: I wasn't desperate in run chase
Player of the Match, India's Virat Kohli:
"Partnerships on this pitch are the most important thing, so it's about stringing those together and rotating strike. I was pleased with my timing and composure at the crease. I wasn't getting desperate in chasing the total down.
"This game is all about pressure - especially in semis and finals - and so if you go deep in the innings, with enough wickets in hand, the opposition usually gives in and the game becomes easier."
Rohit 'confident' looking ahead to final
India captain Rohit Sharma:
"At the halfway stage, we felt like it was a reasonable score to chase, although we knew we'd have to bat well. We were clinical with the bat, very calm and composed in the chase.
"Kohli has done it for us for so many years. We wanted big partnerships, like he had with Shreyas and Axar, while those shots at the end from Rahul and Hardik were also very crucial.
"Credit goes to everyone in the team. When you go into a final, you want your players to be in form. All of these guys have made an impact and that's something that gives us a lot of confidence."
Smith rues missed opportunity with the bat
Australia captain Steve Smith:
"I thought our bowlers did a really good job, they worked hard throughout.
"They weren't the easiest batting conditions, which is probably why the scores were what they were. Having said that, I thought we could have put a few more runs on the board.
"We lost wickets at crucial times. If we had got 280-plus, things could have been different."
Watch the second Champions Trophy semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand, in Lahore, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am on Wednesday (9am first ball).
ICC Champions Trophy - knockout stage results and fixtures
All games 9am UK time, all live on Sky Sports
Semi-finals
- March 4: India beat Australia by four wickets 🔵
- March 5: New Zealand vs South Africa (Lahore) ⚫🆚🟢
Final
- March 9: India vs TBC (Dubai) 🔵🆚❓
