Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand), Richard Illingworth (England), Michael Gough (England, TV)
Referee
Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
Toss
Australia elected to bat
Pitch Report
Gentle breeze across the ground. Absolutely no chance of rain. 77 meters straight, 69 meters and 62 meters square on either side. The pitch looks bare. Bat first if you win the toss. But the major challenge for the Aussies is how they tackle the Indian spinners. They were very accurate and wicket-to-wicket against New Zealand. Average first innings score here in the competition is just 239.
Experts are creating their teams, watch this space
Expert Team 1
R Sharma
A Patel
Expert Team 2
A Patel
H Pandya
Venue Details
Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Gentle breeze across the ground. Absolutely no chance of rain. 77 meters straight, 69 meters and 62 meters square on either side. The pitch looks bare. Bat first if you win the toss. But the major challenge for the Aussies is how they tackle the Indian spinners. They were very accurate and wicket-to-wicket against New Zealand. Average first innings score here in the competition is just 239.
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
India vs New Zealand or India vs South Africa, whom will the Men in Blue face in the summit clash of the tournament? We will leave that up to the cricketing gods to decide. As of now, revel in the winning moment and enjoy the feeling while it lasts. This has been Lavil Saldanha signing off on behalf of Rajarshi Das. Tune in tomorrow, March 5, to watch the second semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa. Till then, keep checking Sportskeeda for the latest in the world of sports as we take your leave, SEE YA!
Rohit Sharma (captain, India): Till the last ball is bowled, nothing is certain. I felt that it was a decent total at the halfway mark and I thought we were clinical with the bat in hand. (On the surface)It looked better, but that has been the nature of the surfaces. We played better today and the batters we had, it was about playing good cricket and understanding the situation rather than reading too much into the wicket. Leave it up to them to make their own decisions. (On batting depth)That's something that I wanted to have and at the same time, get batting till number 8. This is something we discussed at length and credit goes to everyone who was involved in making the team. With six bowling options, you can choose whatever you want for the batters and their match-ups. (On Virat Kohli's contributions) He has done it for us for so many years, we wanted the big partnership and the small partnerships. The shots in the end by Hardik were really good. When you play in the finals, you want everyone to be in form and make an impact in the games they did before. That gives us confidence heading into the finals, we will put on our thinking caps when we play. (On finalists) Both are good teams but we will keep an eye on it. I want the guys to have some rest and try to relax tomorrow
Steve Smith (captain, Australia): I thought the bowlers did a fine job, they worked hard and the spinners also squeezed. It was a tough wicket to pick up runs as well. Credit to India. There was two pace-ness in the wicket and the ball stuck a bit. Having said that, I felt we were a few runs short and lost one too many wickets. The bowling attack did a fine job throughout, the batters also did well and also played well against England. They will get better as things go on
Virat Kohli is the Player Of The Match! Here's what he has to say: Pretty similar to the other day against Pakistan. Just about understanding the conditions, rotating strike, because partnerships are the most important thing. My effort on both days was to do so, when I got out the plan was to get 20 more and try to finish it off in a couple overs. Usually I follow the template but sometimes you can't execute it how you want to. The pitch tells me how to play out the innings. The composure at the crease, I was happy knocking ones around. As a batsman, when you start taking pride in hitting those singles into the gaps, that's when you know you are batting well and settle the nerves down a little bit. That was the most pleasing factor today and against Pakistan. This game is all about pressure, if you go deep into the innings with wickets in hand the opposition gives in. The game becomes easier. Important to control your impulses, for me its important to know the number of overs and runs left, even if the gap's 25-30 and it comes to six an over I'm not bothered, as long we have 6 wickets in hand. I'm never focused on those things - when you don't think of those milestones they happen along the way, for me it's about taking pride for the team. If the hundred comes, good, if not, there's a happy dressing room when you win. For me, these things do not matter anymore.
8:07 pm local time, 9:07 pm IST: India beat Australia by four wickets and advance into the finals of Champions Trophy 2025
India win and book their place in the finals of the Champions Trophy. Talk about chasing a total down in some tricky circumstances. They took on the World Champions and managed to come out on top. Kudos to Australia, despite a depleted unit they have put on a show and come so far, but will have to go back empty-handed.
The chase was off to a shaky start, with Shubman Gill being knocked over cheaply. Rohit Sharma was getting in his groove in the middle but his aggressive intent became his very reason for the loss of his wicket as he was dismissed after being well set. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer joined forces in the middle and together the pair put together 91 runs for the third wicket. Iyer looked to take down Adam Zampa but then lost his wicket.
Virat Kohli stayed in the middle, and just like he strung a partnership with Iyer, he and Axar Patel batted well for the fourth wicket as well, scoring 44 runs. Following Axar's dismissal, KL Rahul walked out to the middle and added 47 runs for the fifth wicket, before Kohli lost his wicket looking to up the ante. In the end, Rahul and Hardik Pandya managed to hunt down Australia by scoring some fine boundaries, with KL Rahul ending the game with a maximum and sending India into the finals of the Champions Trophy.
Australia will know their bowling unit came short of the total put on board but will take pride in their performance after managing to put on a fight against India despite not having their premier bowlers in the line-up. Nathan Ellis bowled a fine spell and constantly put pressure on the Indians by using his variations nicely. Adam Zampa was a bit expensive in his final over but managed two wickets in the game. Ben Dwarshuis and Cooper Connolly picked up a wicket each, adding some support to the bowling unit. Tanveer Sangha succumbed to the pressure of the big stage and was the only bowler who was a bit expensive.
2000, 2002, 2013, 2017, and now 2025. India advances into the finals for the fifth time in the tournament's history. This unit has done a fine job with the bat in hand and have batted really well in this chase. They also chase the highest total in knockouts against Australia. We have the venue for the final with that as well!
48.1 Glenn Maxwell to KL Rahul, DONE, DUSTED, and India march into their fifth ICC Champions Trophy final! Maxwell tosses this one up outside off, almost inviting Rahul to go for that glory shot. Rahul obliges - he runs down the wicket, gets right under the ball and heaves it over the cow corner boundary. Yet another clinical performance by the Men In Blue - they've been so throughout the tournament. The final hurdle is all that remains now!
Glenn Maxwell [6-0-35-0] comes back into the attack
Pandya looked to finish the match in style and hit the ball a bit too well to find the man in the deep. Nonetheless, he did his job to perfection and brought India closer to the win and to the finals as well. India need 4 runs to win in 12 balls
48
overs
261/6score
1
0
1wd
4
0
W
2
runs
Ravindra Jadeja*
2(1)
KL Rahul
36(33)
Nathan Ellis
2/49
47.6 Nathan Ellis to Ravindra Jadeja, on a fuller length, angled in towards off stump from round the wicket. Jadeja punches this straight at the fielder at mid on, the batters hare through for a run... wait, there's been an issue with the backing up... the batters steal a second run! Here's what happened - Rahul was on his haunches having completed the single, Dwarshuis at deep fine
Ravindra Jadeja, LHB, walks out to the middle
47.5 Nathan Ellis to Hardik Pandya, ANTI-CLIMATIC! Pandya holes out trying to finish it off glamorously! On a hard length around off, bit of curve into the batter. Pandya went ahead with lofting it down the ground through its line. Didn't get the desired connection, and Maxwell at long on made no mistake with the catching.
Hardik Pandya c Glenn Maxwell b Nathan Ellis 28 (24b, 1x4, 3x6)
47.4 Nathan Ellis to Hardik Pandya, full, wide of off, close to the yorker length. Pandya fails to squeeze it away, slicing it towards the keeper
India now only a big hit away from a win. They need 6 runs to win in 15 deliveries.
47.3 Nathan Ellis to Hardik Pandya, over the top, TRICKLES TO THE ROPES! Ellis goes slightly fuller, ends up landing it in Pandya's arc around middle and leg. Pandya lofts it through the line, the ball lands close to the ropes in front of the sight screen and beats both chasing fielders to the ropes
47.3 Nathan Ellis to Hardik Pandya, wide, sharp short delivery outside off, Pandya lets it past. The umpire at square leg reckons this went over Pandya's head
Krishna: "I love you" I am guessing that was the majority of the audience at the venue when they saw the two consecutive sixes hit by Hardik Pandya!
47.2 Nathan Ellis to Hardik Pandya, slower ball, on a good length around leg stump. Pandya looked to loft this down the ground, was early onto it. The ball sneaked past the inside edge and leg stump
47.1 Nathan Ellis to KL Rahul, on a back of length wide of off. Rahul stood tall and steered this past the right of the man behind point. The batters collect a single
Video
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R Sharma
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Ravindra Jadeja
*
Nathan Ellis
Dubai International Cricket Stadium
