India steers past Australia beats them by 4 wickets and flies into Champions Trophy final

Virat Kohli scored 84 runs to help India overcome Australia by four wickets and go to the Champions Trophy 2025 final in Dubai on Tuesday. The Rohit Sharma-led team achieved a target of 265 runs in 48.1 overs. Aside from Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (45), KL Rahul (42 not out), and Hardik Pandya (28) also played important roles. Earlier, India’s disciplined bowling approach enabled them bundle out Australia for 264 after being given the opportunity to bowl first. Mohammed Shami was the highlight of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets for 48 runs, while Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja each took two. Steve Smith was Australia’s leading scorer, with 73 runs off 96 balls. India will face the victor of the South Africa-New Zealand match in the final.

Previously, needless dismissals cost Australia multiple opportunities to capitalise on strong beginnings. The first came at 54 for one in the ninth over, followed by 110 for two in the 23rd, and finally 198 for four with 13 overs remaining. At that moment, something approaching 300 was a possibility. But each time, India added some aerodynamic drag.

Varun Chakravarthy has been outstanding since his promotion to the one-day squad, and his first ball knocked out India’s tormentor, Travis Head, caught down the ground for 39. Marnus Labuschagne formed a combination with Smith, but he missed a straight ball at his pads from Ravindra Jadeja on 29. Smith’s 73 was excellent, punctuating defence with intermittent attack, but with a century on the line, he missed a full delivery from Mohammed Shami and was bowled. Maxwell quickly performed something similar to Patel.

With Dwarshuis at No. 8 becoming the first vertebrae in an unconvincing tail, Alex Carey took damage at No. 6, fighting his way up to 61 before being taken out late in the piece by an Iyer straight hit from deep. Australia was eliminated three balls shy of the 50-over mark and more over three runs short of a convincing total of 264.

Kohli failed to hit a tonne in the run chase, attempting to slog-sweep Zampa for six despite his personal score of 84 and Rahul’s blistering performance. But, with India 40 short, he had brought them close enough. Ellis fought hard, giving four runs in two overs, and Hardik Pandya had a few of inaccurate swings when concerned about injury, but when he connected with the final two balls of Zampa’s permitted overs, the twelve runs nearly won the game. He handed Ellis his second wicket by slogging the bowler’s final delivery of the day, but Rahul closed the game with a six.

India defeated Australia by four wickets in the inaugural quarterfinal of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Australians were bowled out for 264 with three balls remaining in their innings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE. Virat Kohli led India’s chase with an 84-run score.
India’s matches are being staged in Dubai due to the cricket board’s unwillingness to send the squad to the host nation, Pakistan. India won each of their three Group A matches. In Group B, Australia won one match and had two more abandoned due to weather. The final will take place in Dubai on Sunday, March 9.

Steven Smith, Australia captain: “The bowlers did a really good job. The spinners squeezed them and took the game deeper. It was a tricky wicket to start on and we did a good job. It played similar throughout the game. A bit of hold and skid for spinners. It was a little two-paced. It wasn’t the easiest batting condition. We could have put a few more runs on the board. If we had 280-plus, it could have been different. We were one wicket down too many down at each stage of the game. Just the way we have come together. The bowling was quite inexperienced. Some of the batters stood up. The England game, they came up strong. They will continue to get bigger and better.”

Rohit Sharma,  India captain: “Till the last ball is bowled, nothing is certain. Halfway through the game, we felt it was a reasonable score, and we have to bat really really well. I thought we were very clinical with the bat. We were very calm and composed. The wicket looked better, and that has been the nature of the surfaces. The one which played today was slightly better. We just want to play good cricket and not read too much into what the pitch is doing. That is something I really wanted, to have six bowling options and then batting till No. 8 as well. This is something we discussed while making the squad. Credit to everyone involved. When you have six bowling options, you can choose from anyone you want. He has done it for us for so many years. We were very calm. We wanted that big stand which Shreyas and Virat had. Then the shots by Hardik in the end were very important. Very happy with that. When you want to play the final, you want all your guys in form. That is something that gives us a lot of confidence. We will not think too much about it. When the time comes, we will think about it. I also want the guys to relax.”

Virat Kohli, player of the match: “I think it was pretty similar to the other day against Pakistan as well. I think there was about seven fours when I got a hundred. For me, it’s about just understanding the conditions, preparing my game accordingly, just rotating strike. Because partnerships on this pitch are the most important thing and my only effort that day and today was to string in enough partnerships. I think the time that I got out, the plan was to get 20 more and then try and finish it off in a couple of fours. Usually that’s the template I follow but sometimes you can’t execute things how you want to. It’s all dependent on the conditions the pitch tells me, how the cricket needs to be played and then I just switch on and play accordingly.”

Playing XI for the semifinal