DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – MARCH 04: Virat Kohli of India salutes the crowd after reaching his … [+] half century during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi final between India and Australia at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 04, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
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India beat Australia by four wickets on Tuesday in Dubai to reach the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy. The tournament favorites are on course to secure a second ICC title in eight months thanks to a well-paced 84 by Virat Kohli in the chase. Kohli’s innings was a masterclass in manoeuvring the ball, giving the shot-makers license to finish the job on a pitch where old-fashioned accumulation was the way to go.
India will now play the winner of the other semifinal between South Africa and New Zealand which takes place in Lahore on Wednesday. It was some measure of revenge for the World Cup final defeat by the Baggy Greens in November 2023.
Rohit Sharma acknowledged that Australia had a “rich history” in ICC tournaments but India’s main task was to take care of its own business. Australia’s inexperienced bowling line-up almost resembled Arsenal F.C.– a team that is short of most of its strikers. When the business end of knockout cricket came around, there was no Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc, Marsh or Green to come and change the momentum. Even for perennial winners, that is a big chunk of A-lister absentees.
They do have Travis Head. When Mohammed Shami spilled a caught and bowled attempt off his leading edge with the first legitimate ball of the match, Indian fears of a century of carnage multiplied. While 21-year-old Cooper Connolly played and missed six times in Shami’s second over, his experienced opening partner started to find the middle of the bat. Head smashed ten off two Hardik deliveries and then smacked Shami for three consecutive boundaries.
ESPNcricinfo’s live commentary reflected the nervousness among followers of cricket’s greatest superpower: “I’ll sum up 90% of the feedback I’m currently getting: India fans are nervous of Travis Head.”
Minutes later, Head perished when trying to deposit Varun Chakravarthy down the ground. The Australian Express had terminated with over 40 overs still to bowl. India sensed that they had shunted the main danger into the sidings and ratcheted up the pressure with their quintet of spinners strangling the scoring rate. Steve Smith knocked the ball around beautifully between the gaps for his 73 even though his engine is two- liter compared to Head’s four.
Alex Carey upped the ante with a brilliant 61 and started to profit from Kuldeep and Varun while Smith copied the pace of Shreyas Iyer’s knock during India’s 249 against New Zealand. The pitch was slow, but not as tricky as the one used in the match between the Kiwis and India. The crucial phase was the last third of the Australian innings. After being 195 for 4 off 36, 265 was still going to ask questions of India’s nerve. It was only enough to cause murmurs rather than palpitations.
Rohit blasted 28 at a run-a-ball but was dropped twice and rarely hints at permanency. The Indian skipper eventually succumbed to Connolly who showed great character after his difficult batting effort. Virat Kohli and Shreyas were able to manipulate the lack of Australia’s strike bowlers after the powerplay to put on 91 until Zampa’s quicker ball went through the latter.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – MARCH 04: Hardik Pandya of India hits out for six runs watched by … [+] Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi final between India and Australia at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 04, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
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Kohli was dropped by Glenn Maxwell on 51 but it was almost a shock when he didn’t bat through. The proactive Axar Patel hit an aggressive 27 before being castled by Nathan Ellis. India bat deep though and while 20s and 40s aren’t normally enough, they were here with everyone bar Shubman Gill contributing. KL Rahul was able to play himself in and then transfer the turbo boost to Hardik Pandya for the final flourish.
Smith’s team were competitive until the bitter end with Nathan Ellis a standout. Sangha’s legbreaks went for 41 off six overs while Connolly can feel pleased with his eight overs of slow left arm. They just didn’t have enough to play with.
It was death by a thousand singles before Pandya went downtown with some enormous maximums to kill off any sense of jeopardy.
Kohli’s knock ensured he became the highest scorer of ones in ODI cricket since January 2000. Millennium white-ball cricket has changed a lot since then, but there’s still room for the touch of a genius. The script for the final might not demand 300 plus either. India in Dubai will be a Mount Everest for South Africa or New Zealand.
