PIX: Kohli stars as India march into Champions Trophy final

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Last updated on: March 04, 2025 21:43 IST

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Images from the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final between India and Australia in Dubai on Tuesday.

Virat Kohli

IMAGE: Virat Kohli celebrates after completing his half-century against Australia. Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters

Virat Kohli top-scored with a fluent 84 as India overpowered Australia by five wickets to storm into the ICC Champions Trophy final, in Dubai, on Tuesday.

Set 265 for victory, K L Rahul (42 not out) finished off the match in grand style as he smashed Glenn Maxwell for a six to guide India to victory with 11 balls to spare in the first semi-final.

India will take on the winners of the second semis between South Africa and New Zealand in Sunday's final to be played in Dubai.

Alex Carey

IMAGE: Alex Carey celebrates his half-century against India. Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters

Earlier, India's bowlers were persistent but well-paced fifties from Steve Smith and Alex Carey carried a largely profligate Australia to a slightly sub-par 264.

Australian skipper Smith (73, 96b, 4x4, 1x6) won a good toss, but the batters could not exploit a much smoother pitch at the DICS, throwing their wickets away through silly shots.  

Throughout his stay, Smith was the pillar of Australian innings as he stroked a fluent 73, hitting four fours and a six in his 96-ball knock. He was involved in three 50-plus stands -- 52 with Travis Head for the second wicket followed by 56 for the third wicket Marnus Labuschagne.

Mohammmed Shami celebrates a wicket

IMAGE: Mohammed Shami celebrates with Rohit Sharma after taking the wicket of Steve Smit. Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters

The most crucial was the 54-run stand for the fifth wicket with Carey, who stroked a quickfire 61 from 57 balls, with eight fours and a six.

Australia would have been in a much better position had two of those alliances bloomed into something more substantial. Each of them fell against the run of the play and it started with Head.

Head's cameo of 39 had several slices of fortune -- a dropped catch by Shami off his own bowling in the first legal delivery of the match, a near run-out, and a couple of inside edges that missed the stumps by a whisker.

Steve Smith

IMAGE: Steve Smith hits a boundary. Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters

However, amidst all that, Head played some delightful shots such as a flicked six off Hardik Pandya and three fours in succession of Shami.

It helped the Aussies to recover from the early loss of Cooper Connolly, who opened with Head after coming in as an injury replacement for ruled out Matthew Short.

But Chakravarthy mitigated the Head threat when the left-hander skied him to a running-in Shubman Gill in the deep.

Labuschagne played back and across to a straighter one from the impressive Ravindra Jadeja (2/40) to get trapped in front.

IMAGE: Ravindra Jadeja celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne. Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters

Josh Inglis looked comfortable but a feeble uppish push off Jadeja ended in the hands of Virat Kohli in the covers.

However, Smith chugged along nicely with excellent control over batting and his thumping straight six off Jadeja was a piece of art in timing and power.

But his fine knock came to an end after he used his feet but missed out on a full toss from Shami, as the ball crashed onto the stumps.

IMAGE: Axar Patel celebrates with teammates after dismissing Glenn Maxwell. Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters

Glenn Maxwell came to the crease in a perfect situation for him at 198/5 with 13 overs to spare.

He swept Axar Patel powerfully over square leg for a six but perished next ball as he bowled by the left-arm spinner, missing a straight delivery as he looked to clip it off his pads.

 

Carey carried on with determination at one end, and was engaged in a useful 34-run alliance with Ben Dwarshuis for the seventh wicket to see them past the 250-run mark.

Steve Smith

IMAGE: Steve Smith celebrates his half-century. Photograph: Satish Kumar/Reuters

However, Carey was run out while attempting for a non-existent second run, getting caught off the crease by a brilliant direct hit by Shreyas Iyer in the 48th over.

The task of scaling down a 250-plus total might not be a simple one in the semis, but India will not be unhappy as at one time they were staring at a 300-plus chase.

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