Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Dubai)
Virat Kohli played a binding knock of 84 runs against Australia on Tuesday to book India’s place in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Chasing a challenging target of 265 on Dubai’s dual-paced pitch, Kohli stitched together partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (45), Axar Patel (27) and KL Rahul (42 not out), and by the time he was dismissed by Adam Zampa, India were on the home straight and crossed the line with 11 balls to spare.
“Kohli is the best chaser in the world,” conceded captain Steve Smith in a post-match interview.
The victory is good news for Indian fans also because it means the Men in Blue will be extending their stay in Dubai where they will await the winners of the other-semi-final being played on Wednesday in Lahore.
The Champions Trophy is being staged in a hybrid model with Pakistan hosting all matches except those involving India due to a breakdown in bilateral relations.
With the semi-finals split between the UAE and Pakistan, India next face winners of the match between South Africa and New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
Australia were responsible for defeating hosts India in the 2023 World Cup final, and are the most decorated side in the history of the sport at international tournaments.
Though they were missing star players, they put on a challenging target on a slow-paced pitch after Smith had won the toss and opted to bat.
“It was difficult but a target of 300 was achievable and would have been good to have,” he said.
Australia looked well on the way towards that total when dangerous left-handed opening batsman Travis Head (39) went through the gears after getting well set. He had been dropped by Mohammed Shami on the second ball of the innings, but later mistimed an ambitious shot off spinner Varun Chakravarthy for Shubman Gill to take a diving catch.
His dismissal was a massive one for India from a psychological point of view because it was Head’s explosive 137 runs that took the game away from India in 2023.
Although Smith (73) and Alex Carey (61) laid the groundwork for the innings, the rest failed to rally around them, eventually being bowled out for 264.
When India lost their openers, captain Rohit Sharma and Gill, leaving them on 43/2 after eight overs, the match hung in balance as Kohli strode in.
The disciplined effort of Kohli was evident from his 56 singles scored. With this knock, following a hundred against Pakistan, Kohli has emphatically hit back at critics who had questioned his form.
As he was approaching triple digits, it was Rahul who went on the attack. Hardik Pandya (28) got in his usual cameo before being caught off Nathan Ellis’ bowling. Rahul brought up the winning runs with a six.
Smith credited his rivals: “When Kohli got out [India at 225/5] we thought we still had a chance, but credit to the rest of the team… we were just not good enough.”
A weary-looking Smith also conceded that the team dropped a few catches which “would have been great when we are chasing such totals. But this is normal for most of the games that such things happen.”
