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Team India clinched a thrilling four-wicket win over Australia in the 2025 Champions Trophy semifinal at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, March 4. With the win, the Men in Blue became the first team to qualify for the final.
Skipper Rohit Sharma became the first captain to reach the final of all four ICC tournaments as India reached their third successive Champions Trophy final.
Australia won the toss and chose to bat first. However, they got off to a dismal start, with opener Cooper Connolly departing after a nine-ball duck. Travis Head and Steve Smith steadied the ship with a 50-run stand for the second wicket.
Smith played a captain's knock and was the top scorer for Australia, finishing with 73 runs off 96 balls. Alex Carey also played an impressive knock before being run out by Shreyas Iyer. The southpaw scored 61 runs off 57 deliveries as the Aussies were bundled out for 264.
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Mohammed Shami was the most successful Indian bowler in the clash, bagging a three-wicket haul. Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets apiece.
India's run chase began shakily as openers Shubman Gill (8 runs off 11 balls) and Rohit Sharma (28 runs off 29 balls) were dismissed within the first eight overs. Virat Kohli orchestrated the chase beautifully, living up to his moniker of 'Chase Master' yet again.
The veteran batter amassed 84 runs off 98 balls. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul chipped in with important contributions of 45 (62 balls) and 42* (34 balls), respectively. Hardik Pandya played an impactful cameo as well, scoring 28 runs in 24 balls.
Rahul hit a glorious six off Glenn Maxwell's bowling in the 49th over to take India to victory. Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa picked up two wickets apiece.
The knockout clash was filled with many thrilling moments. Let's take a look at three such moments that generated buzz among the fans.
#1 Hardik Pandya hit back-to-back sixes off Adam Zampa to swing the pendulum in India's favour
The match seemed to be evenly poised in the death overs of the run chase. Nathan Ellis conceded just a single run in the 46th over and India needed 27 runs from the final four overs.
Steve Smith handed the ball to his most experienced bowler, Adam Zampa, at the critical juncture. The crafty spinner did a decent job, giving away just three runs from the first four balls.
However, Hardik Pandya turned things around, hitting back-to-back sixes. The all-rounder's onslaught brought the equation down to 12 needed from 18 balls and propelled the Rohit Sharma-led side into the pole position.
#2 Travis Head gets a massive reprieve on the first ball of the match
Australia's swashbuckling opener Travis Head got a big reprieve on the first legal delivery of the semifinal. Mohammed Shami kicked off the proceedings with a wide. He followed it by a short of length delivery that angled into the southpaw.
The ball took the leading edge of Head's bat and went towards the right of Shami. The pacer stuck his hand out but couldn't hold on to the catch. The missed opportunity worried many fans, given the left-handed batter's knack for scoring big runs against India.
Head would have been dismissed for a golden duck if not for the dropped catch. He scored 39 runs off 33 balls and perished to mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy.
#3 Virat Kohli misses out on a well-deserved century
Virat Kohli was a key architect in India's four-wicket win in the 2025 Champions Trophy semifinal. The batter looked set for his 52nd ODI ton as he countered the Australian bowlers with great aplomb.
However, the 36-year-old missed out on the milestone by 16 runs, losing his wicket to Adam Zampa in the 43rd over. He went for a slog but couldn't get the desired connection and was caught by Ben Dwarshuis at long-on.
It is worth mentioning that during the match, Kohli became the second batter to score over 8,000 runs in ODI run chases. It was his 24th fifty-plus score in ICC ODI tournaments, the most by any batter.
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