India beat Australia by five wickets to enter the final
Photo : AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- India will play the 2025 Champions Trophy final
- India have reached the final for the third time in a row
- India will play their 14th ICC tournament final
Virat Kohli produced a vintage knock to ensure India reached a third consecutive Champions Trophy final after a four-wicket over Australia in the semi-final at the Dubai International Stadium. This will mark the fourth consecutive ICC event final that the Men in Blue will play.
Chasing 264, India lost two early wickets in the powerplay as Shubman Gill departed after making eight runs in 11 balls while Rohit Sharma made 28 runs in 29 balls despite having luck on his side with two dropped catches.
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer continued their brilliant form and brought India back on track with a 91-run partnership. Adam Zampa kept Australia live in the match by dismissing Shreyas, who made 45 runs in 62 balls. Kohli played a solid knock of 84 in 98 balls while KL Rahul (42 in 34 balls), Axar Patel (27 in 30 balls), and Hardik Pandya's (28 in 24 balls) handy cameos guided India to victory with 11 balls to spare.
Earlier Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat after making two changes in their playing XI. Mohammed Shami drew first blood for India as Copper Connolly was dismissed for a nine-ball duck. Travis Head made the slowest ODI start of his career with just one run in 10 balls but ended up giving Australia a quick start once again as he made 39 runs in 33 balls. Varun Chakravrathy dismissed the Australian opener on the first ball he bowled to him in his career.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschage kept Ausrtalia's scoring in check with a solid 56-run partnership. Ravindra Jadeja successfully broke the partnership with the dismissal of Labuschagne (29) and also got the wicket of Josh Inglis (11).
Alex Carey gave the Australian captain solid support for a quick-fire score of 61 runs in 57 balls. Smith made 73 runs in 96 balls but lost his wicket trying to attack Shami.
Australia ended with a total of 264 on the board with Shami emerging as India's best bowler after taking three wickets and giving away just 48 runs in 10 overs. Chakravarthy and Jadeja took two wickets each while Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya got one scalp each.
The final will now take place in Dubai as India's entry into the summit clash means that Lahore cannot host the clash. The Men in Blue will either face South Africa or New Zealand in the summit clash on Sunday (March 9).
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