DUBAI, MAR 4: India have guaranteed their place in the Champions Trophy final after a four-wicket victory over Australia in the first semi-final at the Dubai International Cricket on Tuesday.
The victory propelled India into their third consecutive Champions Trophy final and will be joined by South Africa or New Zealand, who are set to lock horns in the second semi-final in Lahore on Wednesday.
India got off to a shaky start to the pursuit as top-ranked ODI batter Shubman Gill (eight) was cleaned up by Ben Dwarshuis in the fifth over with 30 runs on the board.
Skipper Rohit Sharma, who was the core aggressor of the opening stand, followed suit just 16 balls later as he was trapped lbw by youngster Cooper Connolly, who had dropped him in the second over.
Rohit smashed three fours and a six on his way to a 29-ball 28.
Following the back-to-back blows, veteran Kohli and Iyer put together an important third-wicket partnership, which yielded 91 runs until the latter was castled by Adam Zampa.
Iyer scored 45 off 62 deliveries with the help of three boundaries.
Kohli was then involved in crucial partnerships with Axar Patel (27) and KL Rahul before finally perishing in the 43rd over.
He remained the top-scorer for India with 84 off 98 deliveries, studded with five boundaries.
Following his departure, Hardik Pandya and Rahul put India in touching distance with a brisk 34-run stand.
Pandya scored 28 off 24 deliveries, while Rahul made an unbeaten 42 from 34 balls with the help of two fours and as many sixes.
For Australia, Nathan Ellis and Zampa bagged two wickets each, while Dwarshuis and Connolly made one scalp apiece.
Earlier, skipper Steven Smith and Alex Carey’s half-centuries helped Australia to set a modest target of 265 runs against India.
Opting to bat first, Australia’s batting unit yielded 264 runs before getting bowled out in 49.3 overs, with Smith and Carey leading the charge with anchoring knocks.
The two-time champions had a contrasting start to their innings as Cooper Connolly fell victim to Mohammed Shami in the third over with just four runs on the board.
Following the early hiccup, skipper Smith joined Head in the middle and together they raised 50 runs for the second wicket until the opener perished in the ninth over.
Head smashed five fours and two sixes on his way to a 33-ball 39.
Smith was then involved in crucial partnerships with Marnus Labuschagne (29) and Josh Inglis (11) as he oversaw Australia’s batting expedition until the 37th over.
He remained the top-scorer for Australia with 73 off 96 deliveries, laced with four fours and a six.
Following his dismissal, Australia began to lose wickets at regular intervals but Carey stood his ground firm and added valuable runs to their total with a gutsy half-century.
The left-handed batter smashed eight fours and a six on his way to a 57-ball 61.
Shami was the standout bowler for India, taking three wickets, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja bagged two wickets each, while Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel made one scalp apiece.
Playing XIs
Australia: Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Steven Smith (capt), Marnus Labuschagne, Cooper Connolly, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha, Adam Zampa
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
