ICC Champions Trophy 2025: India beat Australia to book place in final

DUBAI: India secured their place in the Champions Trophy final by defeating Australia by four wickets in the first semi-final of the Dubai International Cricket on Tuesday.

The victory took India to their third consecutive Champions Trophy final, and they will face either South Africa or New Zealand, who are set to lock horns in the second semi-final in Lahore on Wednesday.

India got off to a shaky start to the chase when top-ranked ODI batsman Shubman Gill (eight) was bowled out for 30 runs by Ben Droshwys in the fifth over.

Skipper Rohit Sharma, who was the main aggressor in the opening stand, followed suit after just 16 balls as he was out lbw by youngster Cooper Connolly, who dropped him in the second over.

Rohit hit three fours and a six for 28 off 29 balls.

After back-to-back blows, the experienced Kohli and Iyer put on a crucial partnership for the third wicket, adding 91 runs until he was bowled by Adam Zampa.

Iyer scored 45 runs off 62 balls with the help of three fours.

Kohli then joined Axar Patel (27) and KL Rahul in crucial partnerships before being dismissed in the 43rd over.

He was the top scorer for India with 84 runs off 98 balls, which included five fours.

After his departure, Hardik Pandya and Rahul put on a quick 34-run stand to take India within touching distance.

Pandya scored 28 runs off 24 balls while Rahul scored an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls with the help of two fours and as many sixes.

For Australia, Nathan Ellis and Zampa took two wickets each while Duershuis and Connolly took one wicket each.

Earlier, Australia set a modest target of 265 against India thanks to half-centuries from captain Steve Smith and Alex Carey.

Opting to bat first, Australia’s batting unit scored 264 runs before being bowled out in 49.3 overs, with Smith and Carey leading the charge with anchoring knocks.

The two-time champions had a mixed start to their innings as Cooper Connolly fell to Mohammed Shami for just four runs in the third over.

After an initial hiccup, captain Smith joined Head in the middle and the two put on 50 runs for the second wicket until the opener was killed in the ninth over.

Head hit five fours and two sixes in his 39-run innings off 33 balls.

Smith then formed a vital partnership with Marnus Labuschagne (29) and Josh Inglis (11) as they oversaw Australia’s batting campaign until the 37th over.

He was the top scorer for Australia with 73 runs off 96 balls, which included four fours and a six.

After his dismissal, Australia started losing wickets at regular intervals but Carey held his ground and added valuable runs to their total with an encouraging half-century.

The left-handed batsman hit eight fours and a six in his 57-ball 61.

For India, Shami was the standout bowler, taking three wickets, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja each took two wickets, while Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel took one wicket each.