Watch cricket video highlights of Champion’s Trophy 2025 First Semi-Final 2025. Between India and Australia. Venue of the match will be Dubai.
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Dubai will be the venue for the Champions Trophy final, with India securing their place after overcoming a depleted Australia team in a thrilling first semi-final. Their victory didn’t come easily, though, and Australia might reflect on several pivotal moments that could have altered the outcome of the match. Ultimately, it was India’s skill and experience that proved decisive, with one member of their team exemplifying these traits.
Virat Kohli had earlier made a trademark century while chasing against Pakistan in the tournament, and appeared poised for another, but an uncharacteristic attempt at a big shot ended his innings at 84. Nevertheless, he had already surpassed 8,000 runs in ODI chases, reducing the target to a manageable 40 runs off 44 balls. They only required 33 of those balls, as KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya nearly secured the victory before Pandya was dismissed with India needing just one hit.
In a similar fashion to the chase during the Chennai World Cup encounter between these teams in 2023, it was Rahul who brought the match to a close, this time with a six over long-on off Glenn Maxwell. Rahul and Hardik combined for five sixes and three fours, yet even this late flourish wasn’t enough to elevate India’s boundary total (16 fours and seven sixes) beyond that of Australia (20 fours and eight sixes).
Instead, their victory was founded on their ability to keep busy: they only encountered 124 dot balls compared to Australia’s 153 and accumulated 158 runs through running between wickets, while Australia managed 129. The success stemmed not only from how Kohli and his teammates – with five other Indian batters scoring over 25 – maneuvered the ball into open areas and ran effectively, but also from the disparity in quality between the two bowling lineups, especially the spinners.
India’s spinners concluded the match with a dot-ball percentage of exactly 50, while Australia’s was slightly over 39. India maintained their strategy of using four spinners on a dry pitch that had the potential for significant turn, but ultimately, the surface turned out to be merely slow and low. While India’s spinners might not have had the tools to dismantle the opposition, they displayed considerably better control than their Australian counterparts, keeping the stumps in play and limiting the batters’ scoring options.
Despite this, Australia at various moments appeared poised to reach a total around 300 after opting to bat, and three of their batsmen delivered performances that could have been match-winning under different circumstances. However, all three fell at critical moments when they seemed most threatening, each contributing to their own dismissals. Travis Head, having been dropped by Mohammed Shami off his own bowling in the match’s first over, took some time acclimating to the surface’s slowness.
But once he adjusted, he swiftly attacked the boundary, elevating his score from 1 off 11 balls to 39 off 32, which reminded India of Ahmedabad 2023. However, facing his first delivery from Varun Chakravarthy in any format, he attempted a big hit straight down the ground but misplayed a wrong’un to long-off. Steven Smith adeptly positioned his bat to send the spinners over midwicket, strike them through the covers, or hammer them straight, scoring a clever 73 and forming half-century partnerships with Head, Marnus Labuschagne, and Alex Carey.
He too benefited from some luck; Shami missed a return catch off him, though with his left hand instead of right, and Axar Patel had a ball inside-edge off him into his stumps but failed to dislodge the bails. However, at 198 for 4 in the 37th over, he advanced down the pitch trying to drive Shami through the gap between cover and mid-off, only to lose his balance and miss a full toss that clattered into the off stump’s base.
Just five deliveries later, another critical wicket fell for Australia, with Glenn Maxwell following a slog-swept six off Axar with a mistimed pull against a stump-bound delivery. In a matter of moments, the game had shifted in India’s favor. Carey remained at the crease, and he was arguably exhibiting the innings of the match up to that point. Coming in during a challenging phase – as Australia stood at 144 for 4, having just lost Labuschagne and Josh Inglis to Ravindra Jadeja in quick succession.
He launched a decisive counterattack, targeting empty spaces in the outfield without reservation. His initial boundary, off the sixth ball he encountered, established the tone as he moved back to expose all three stumps, creating room to loft Jadeja over mid-off – the length didn’t quite allow him to connect perfectly, but he committed to the shot knowing no fielder was able to protect that boundary. In that context, using sweeps, lofted shots over the infield, and reverse-sweeps, Carey had raced to 60 off 56 deliveries.
However, just when it became crucial for him to stay at the crease, with Australia at seven wickets down in the 47th over, he attempted a risky second run and was caught short by an exceptional direct hit from Shreyas Iyer, who was positioned two-thirds of the way back at backward square leg. All of these incidents contributed to Australia being dismissed for 264, with three balls to spare. It was the sort of total that enabled India to control their chase without desperately seeking boundaries, although the initial moments seemed to indicate otherwise.
Shubman Gill stepped down the pitch to dispatch Ben Dwarshuis with a stunning short-arm jab, but in the same over, he ended up inside-edging the ball onto his stumps while attempting to guide it fine, possibly an unwise shot in these circumstances. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, attacked the bowling as he typically does in the early powerplay, playing an innings that mirrored Head’s: there were several spectacular hits, including a six pulled off Nathan Ellis; two dropped catches—neither easy.
But both should have been taken—by Cooper Connolly and Labuschagne; and then a dismissal from a risky play, sweeping a ball that was too straight and too full from Connolly. This left India at 43 for 2 by the eighth over, allowing Connolly to finally relax after a challenging match up to that point. Earlier in the day, stepping in for the injured Matthew Short, who he had replaced in Australia’s squad, he had suffered a nine-ball duck, which included six consecutive plays-and-misses against Shami.
Connolly could have experienced even more happiness in his sixth over when Kohli, attempting to work the left-arm spin into the on side, sent a leading edge soaring towards Maxwell at short cover. Maxwell dove to his right but was unable to hold onto the catch with one hand. If that catch had been taken, with Kohli on 51 and India at 134 for 2, Australia might have had an opportunity. Apart from that, however, Kohli was making the chase appear deceptively simple.
Employing only traditional percentage shots while nevertheless scoring faster than Iyer—who was frequently moving around his crease, often attempting to scoop the ball over his shoulder—in a third-wicket partnership worth 91 runs. Kohli hit only five boundaries in total—two pulls against the spinners and one off Ellis were especially impressive due to his quick footwork—but had no difficulty in keeping the scoreboard ticking. This was partly due to Australia having to concede singles to deep fielders because of the limitations within their spin attack.
Which consisted of one experienced frontline bowler in Adam Zampa, a legspinner making just his fourth ODI appearance in Tanveer Sangha, and three batting allrounders or part-time bowlers in Connolly, Maxwell, and Head. Given the total he was defending, Smith had to protect the boundaries, allowing singles to accumulate while waiting for an opportunity. That moment arrived when Iyer attempted to make room to cut but was bowled by Zampa’s quicker delivery, leaving India needing 131 runs off 142 balls.
Nonetheless, they remained heavy favorites due to their batting strength. They fell into a rhythm, with Kohli looking to see them through the chase alongside Axar—who was batting in his usual No. 5 position—while Rahul targeted the bowlers at the other end, forming partnerships of 44 and 47 runs. Just when everything seemed to be unfolding perfectly, and a century appeared well within Kohli’s grasp, he was dismissed in an unexpectedly uncharacteristic fashion. Earlier in the over.
Rahul had hit Zampa for a straight six, and India was comfortably ahead of their required rate. It’s not typically a moment where Kohli opts to attempt a six, but on that day, he did. He misjudged the wrong’un, and the ball likely turned less than he anticipated, causing him to hit it straighter than intended, directly to the fielder at long-on. While Kohli is often seen as the most precise chaser in the game, even he occasionally succumbs to spontaneous impulses.
