India Vs Australia Match Highlights
A first semi-final to remember on March 4, 2025, witnessed the Dubai International Stadium welcoming a game between rivals India and Australia. Australia being the toss winner opted to bat first on a pitch which would assist spinners later on; hence the battle would be fought tactically.
Australia began their innings with Head and Connolly facing Shami’s challenging opening spell. In the third over, the first setback occurred when Shami delivered an outswinger that tempted Connolly to play a hesitant shot. He ended up edging the ball to Rahul at second slip for a duck after just nine balls, resulting in a score of 4/1 following 2.6 overs.
Head remained unfazed by this early loss and took on a more aggressive approach. He drove Shami elegantly through cover for four runs in the fourth over and followed it with another boundary over mid-off off Hardik Pandya’s bowling in the fifth over.
His attacking style reached its peak during the seventh over, where he struck Kuldeep Yadav’s initial delivery—a floated offering—cleanly over extra cover for six runs. By this point, Head accelerated his score to 39 off 33 deliveries, including five fours and one six. However, Varun Chakravarthy was introduced in the ninth over and managed to halt Head’s momentum; a cleverly bowled wrong’un turned past him and was caught by Gill at mid-off, leaving Australia at 54/2 after 8.2 overs.
Steve Smith entered next at No. 3, joining Labuschagne as they aimed to stabilize their innings. Displaying poise and solidity, Smith nudged Shami from his pads for two runs in the tenth over while Labuschagne narrowly escaped an LBW appeal from Pandya in the twelfth; just missing leg stump confirmed by replay technology proved vital for his continuation. Their partnership yielded 56 runs gradually—a testament to patience—with Smith flicking Kuldeep effectively through midwicket for four runs during the fifteenth over and Labuschagne steering Chakravarthy skillfully past point.
By approximately twenty-two overs into their innings, Australia posted a total of 110/2 but soon saw Jadeja change dynamics upon taking onto bowlers’ responsibilities. His third delivery during the twenty-third refresher skidded unexpectedly low; Labuschagne—who had earlier made 29 off 36 deliveries with four fours—misread it completely leading himself to be trapped LBW after review upheld possession within line hitting leg stump
Alex Carey joined Smith, and the duo went on the offensive. He arrived at his half-century in the 31st over, hitting two off Axar Patel, with 73 coming in total from 96 balls that saw nine boundaries-a combination of defiance and elegance.
Carey was against all odds from the start, with his driving Shami to the cover for four in the 29th over; he hoisted Kuldeep over midwicket for six in the 33rd, reaching 61 in 57 balls with seven fours and a six. Their partnership of 54 helped Australia to make 198/4 in 36 overs, but when Shami resumed in 37, he picked up a very crucial wicket- bowled him out for 73, a length ball crashing through the gate to hit the middle stump- 198/5. Axar struck next in 38, Maxwell (7 off 5) bowled while attempting a lofted cover drive; the ball sneaked under his bat- 205/6.
The platform was tumbled by the lower order. Dwarshuis, playing both cautious and aggressive cricket, hit a boundary through point off Chakravarthy in the 41st over to reach 19 runs off 29 balls; he was eventually dismissed in the 45th over, caught by Iyer at long-on off a miscued lofted shot- 239/7. Carey’s resistance ended in the 47th over at 61; run-out after a mix-up with Zampa-Iyer’s direct hit from mid-off was on target- 249/8.
Shami dismissed Nathan Ellis (10 off 7) in the 49th over, caught by Kohli diving forward at mid-off and Hardik Pandya bowled Zampa (7 off 12) in the final over, a slower ball crashing into the stumps. Australia finished at 264 all out in 49.3 overs with seven extras (all wides) in the support. Shami returned with incredible bowling of 3/48 in over 10, Chakravarthy got 2/49 off 10, and the brilliant Jadeja returned with 2/40 off his spell of 8. Kuldeep (0/44) and Axar (1/43) kept tight control. The powerplay pretty much saw 63 runs but the middle overs of India’s bowlers maintained control over Australia.
The 265 ensuing target that India was chasing up began with Rohit Sharma accelerating towards it, taking Dwarshuis through the cover for four in the second over of the innings and lofting Connolly over mid-off for another six in the third over, reaching 28 runs off 29 balls with three fours and a six. His aggression met its demise in the eighth over itself, as Connolly trapped him LBW for 28; this was a nip-backer that pitched and hit the pads on leg, which was upheld after the review suggested that it was clipping leg:
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India was placed at 43/2. A little earlier, Shubman Gill (8 off 11) had been dismissed in the fifth over, courtesy of a Dwarshuis delivery-a length ball that beat his defense and crashed into off-stump-30/1. Kohli joined Iyer in what could-be redemptive batting, as they added 91 runs-Virat Kohli-extremely watchful-elegantly tucked Sangha for a couple in the tenth over. Iyer remorselessly attacked Zampa, lofting a six over long-on in the 19th over and smashing Maxwell through cover for four in the 21st. By now, India were 134/2-the 26th over, when Kohli reached 50 by a well-timed flick off Maxwell: 50 in 62 balls.
Then came Zampa’s moment in the 27th over: Iyer out for 45 off 62 balls (with six fours). A missed sweep, crashing into middle stump: 134/3. Axar Patel had matched Kohli, playing himself in, along with a little flourish, taking the score to 178/4.
Axar drove Ellis through the cover for four in the 30th over, scoring 27 runs off 30 balls with three fours; but in the 35th over, he was bowled by Ellis attempting to drive: the ball nipped in to hit off stump-178/4. KL Rahul joined Kohli, who continued his nvigoration rhythm, driving Sangha for four in the 38th over. Kohli was out for 84 off 98 balls (nine fours) in the 43rd over-these are Dwarshuis’s catches to cover off Zampa’s googly: 225/5 and 40 needed from 44 balls.
Rahul was calm under pressure: 42* off 34 (4 fours and a six). He slammed Maxwell over mid-off for four in the 45th over. Hardik Pandya injected some urgency, hitting Sangha for a six over long-on in the 46th over and driving Ellis to the fence.
He made a quick 28 off 24 balls with four fours and one six, but it was all over at 48 when Ellis bowled him at deep midwicket—259/6 and in a spot of bother needing 6 off the last 12 balls. Jadeja (2* off 1) accompanied Rahul in the chase, who finished it off with a flourish, lofting Maxwell for four over cover in the 49th over. In 48.1 overs, India finished at 267/6, winning by 4 wickets with 11 balls to spare.
The Australian bowlers Ellis (2/49), Zampa (2/60), and Connolly (1/37) fought all the way, but just fell short. They took 55 runs in the powerplay as compared to the 63 runs for India. The middle-order fight and late coarseness of India overshadowed that of the opposition. Kohli’s match-winning performance of 84 made him the Player of the Match while Shami took the contest away with his superb bowling of 3/48.
Smith’s 73 and Carey’s 61 did mount a challenge by keeping Australia within range of a win, but the fall from 198/4 to 264/10 proved far too costly. The fielding of India was complemented by the bowling and batting performance, highlighted by Kohli’s slip catch, Iyer’s run-out, and Rahul’s slip catch, securing their berth for the fifth time into the Champions Trophy finals, marking an unbeaten journey so far, another step toward ending their 12-year-long wait for a trophy. Australia fell by the wayside after, with more flashes of brilliance, finally succumbing to the party poopers in India, leaving a cricket memory etched deep.
