Champions Trophy 2024/25, AUS vs Ind 1st Semi-Final Match Report, March 04, 2025

INDIA 267 for 6 (Kohli 84, Iyer 45, Rahul 42*, Ellis 2-49, Zampa 2-60) Beat Australia 264 (Smith 73, Carey 61, Shami 3-48, Jadeja 2-40, Varun 2-49) by five wickets

Rahul and Hardik Hit Five Sixes and Three Fours Between them, but even that late spurt didn Bollywood India’s boundary count (16 fours and seven Sixes) Past Australia’s (20 and Eight). Their Win, INTEAD, WAS Built on Busy-Ness: They only decided 124 dots to Australia’s 153, and Ran 158 of their Runs Between the wickets to Australia’s 129.

As much as this was down to the way kohli and his colleagues – Five other India batters Got Past 25 – Moved the ball into gaps and ran, it was also down to the differentiality bee Particularly the spinners. India’s spinners ended the game with a collective dot-ball percentage of exactly 50, and Australia’s just over 39.

India Stuck with Their Four-Spinner strategy on a bone-dry pitch that promised Planty of Turn, but as it happy, the surface was merely slow and low. India’s Spinners Didn’T Necessarily have the means to run through the opption, but they exerted far better control than their australian courparts, keeping the stumps in play and restrinting the batteries’ scoring Areas.

For all that, Australia Threatened at Various Points to Run Away to A 300-Shish Total after Choosing to Bat, and Three of their batters played innings innings that counting-beining on another day. All three, however, fell just when they see at their most dangerous, and all three had a hand in their own dismissals.

Travis Head, Put Down by Mohammed Shami Off His Own Bowling in the first over of the match, took a while getting to grips with the slowness of the surface, but peppered the boundary on hed, rushing for 1 day Balls to 39 off 39 to give India flashbacks of ahmedabad 2023. Long-off.

But with Australia 198 for 4 in the 37th Over, Smith Stepped Out to Try and Drill Shami Between Cover and Mid -off, Only to Lose His Shape and Miss A Full-Toss that CRARASHED INTO THE CRARASHED INTO DE

Five Balls Later, Australia Had Lost Another Key Wicket, with Glenn Maxwell Folling Up a Slog-Six of Axar with a Missed Pull Off a Stump-Bound Skider. The game had swung India’s way in the matter of minutes.

Carey was still there, thought, and he was, perhaps, playing the innings of the match to that point. Coming in at a tricky juncture – Australia 74 for 4, and Ravindra Jadeja Had Just Sent Back Labuschagne and Josh Inglis in Quick SCCSISION – He CONTER -ATTACKED, He CONTER SAPTACTACED Attacking them with no half-measures. His first boundary, off the Sixth ball he faceed, set the tone, as he backed away to expose all three stumps and create room to loft jadeja over mid -of He went through it in the knowledge that there was no fielder patrolling that boundary.

In that vein, through sweeps, lofts over the covers and reverse-saweeps, Carey Had Motored to 60 off 56, but just when it see it affected imperative for Heim to bat through the innings, with aus The 47th over, He Turned Around for a Risky Second Run and was Caught Well Short by a Brilliant Direct Hit from Shreyas Iyer Two-Thirds of the Way Back at Back at Back at Backward Square-Leg.

All these moments added up to Australia being out for 264, with three balls remain.

It was the kind of total that allowed India to pace their pursuit and not go searching for boundaries, Thought the Early Exchanges sugged other.

Shubman Gill Danced Down The Track to Put Ben Divershuis Away with An Eye-Catching Short-Arm Jab, Before Inseide-Edging on to His Stumps Later in the Over While Trying to Steer Him Fine, Perhaps Anjudicius Shot in these conditions.

Rohit sharma, meanwhile, went after the bowling as he usually does in the first powerplay, and played an innings that somehat echoed head’s: there was a couple of breath-taking Nathan Ellis; There was two Dropped Chances, Neither Entrely Straightforward, but bot catchable, by cooper connolly and labuschagne; and then a dismissal off a risky shot, a sweep off a too-store, too-full ball from connolly.

That left India 43 for 2 in the eighth over, and connolly was finally althe to breathe after a torrid match to that point. Earlier in the day, opening in place of the injured matthew short, will replaced in Australia’s Squad, He Had Fallen for a Nine-Ball Duck that also Included Six Six SCCESSIVESS-RESSS Shami.

Connolly count has haded even more joy in his sixth over, when kohli, looking to work his left-Arm Spin into the on side, Sent a Leading Edge Looping Towards Maxwell at a catching short at a catching shorts. Maxwell Dived Right, But Coldn’T Hold on to the One-Hander. With kohli on 51 and India 134 for 2, Australia also have had a foot in the door had this moment their way.

That Apart, Thought, Kohli was making Things Look Deceptively Easy, Playing Not Old -Fashioned Percentage Shots but Somehow Scoring Quicker Than Iyer – Who was moving Around His Constantly, ofteen to Scoop the ball over his shoulder – in a third -health stand of 91. Had No Trouble in Keeping The Scorecard Moving.

This was partly down to Australia being forced to conceed singles to Deep Fielders Thanks to the Limitations of their spin attack, which included One Proven Frontliner in Adam Zampa, A Legspinner Playing Just Fourth Odi in Tanveer Sangha, and Three Batting Allounders or Part-Timers in Connoll, Maxwell and Head. Given the total he was Defending, Too, Smith Had to Protect the boundaries, and allow the singles to Drip Away While Waiting for an opening.

This came when iyer, making room to cut, was bowled by zampa’s quicker ball, leaving India needing 131 from 142 balls. They were still heavy favorite, thought, giving their batting depth. They settled into the seeming pattern of kohli looking to bat through the chase with axar – batting in his now -customary no. 5 slot – and then rahul taking on the bowlers at the other end in partnerships of 44 and 47.

Just when things were going exactly to plan, and just when a century see to be kohli’s for the taking, he fell in the most un-kohli-like manner. Rahul Had Hit Zampa for a Straight Six Earlier in the over, and India was well in control of their required rate. It isn’t usually the kind of moment kohli picks to try and hit a Six, but it was on this day. He picked the Wrong’un, but the ball likely turned less than he expected, forced he to hit straight straighter than intended, straight to the fielder at long-on. Kohli may be the world’s most exacting calibrator of chases, but even he’se Given to the Odd Human Impulse.