IND VS AUS Match Highlights, Champions Trophy 2025: Virat Kohli Stars As India Advance To 3rd Consecutive CT Final

Virat Kohli starred in the ICC Champions Trophy Semi Final 1 as India beat Australia by 4 wickets to advance into their third consecutive Champions Trophy final. With a match winning knock of 84 in 98 deliveries, Virat Kohli set the tone for the likes of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya to apply the finishing touches. 

Needing four runs in the final two overs, KL Rahul stepped out to finish off the match with a six and send India to their third ICC tournament final in three years. The chase of 265 runs in the semis was also India's highest ever run chase against Australia in an ICC tournament. 
 

India will now await the winner of the semi final between South Africa and New Zealand to find out who they play in the final at the Dubai International Stadium on March 9th.

IND vs AUS Top Performers:

Virat Kohli - 84 (98)  

India once again found themselves in trouble in a run chase and the chase master once again rose up to the occasion to guide India to yet another ICC Champions Trophy final. Kohli looked well set for his 83rd century but got caught after trying to hit Adam Zampa for six. With 84 runs in 98 balls Virat Kohli was named man of the match.

KL Rahul - 42*(34)

KL Rahul played a pivotal role in India's triumph over Australia as he provided the finishing touches with an unbeaten knock of 42 runs with a strike rate of 123.53. He finsihed the match off in style with a classic six over long on. 
 

Shreyas Iyer - 45 (62)

Shreyas Iyer's knock might go under the radar but if not for his partnership with Virat Kohli the platform for the run chase won't have been set and India could've succumbed to yet another knockout heartbreak vs Australia. 
 

Steve Smith - 73 (96)

Australia we're in early trouble after losing their first wicket for just four runs inside the first three overs. The Australian skipper Steve Smith walked in and stabilised the ship for his side with a calculated innings of 73. He put together 50 run partnerships with each of Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Adam Zampa and was looking set to lead Australia to a total of 300 plus. However, Shami's lower full toss knocked over Smith's stumps to keep the Aussie innings in check.

Alex Carey - 61 (57)

As always for Australia, 'Kez' Alex Carey was the difference in them setting up a competitive total for the men in blue to chase. Carey walked in with Australia down 144/4 and played the perfect second fiddle to Steve Smith. His knock of 61 was crucial to help Australia pass the 250 barrier before he was ultimately run out by Shreyas Iyer. 
 

Mohammed Shami - 3/48

Mohammed Shami once again stepped up for India as the leader of their pace attack by picking up three wickets. Shami opened the shackles by dismissing opener Cooper Connolly for a duck. His most important contribution was dismissing Steve Smith for 73 to prevent Australia from reaching what would've been a match winning total of 300 runs. With three wickets for 48 runs in 10 overs at an economy of just 4.8 rpo, Shami was the pick of the bowlers. 

Varun Chakravarthy - 2/49

Varun Chakravarthy once again repaid the faith the selectors put into him and justified his selection over Harshith Rana. In his first over he picked the all important wicket of Travis Head just when the Aussie opener was wreaking havoc over the Indian bowling lineup. Chakravarthy finished his with figures of 2/49 in 10 overs with an economy of 4.9. 

IND vs AUS Man Of The Match
 

Cometh the hour, Cometh the man as Virat Kohli produced another ICC knockout clinic to guide India over the line in a tricky chase against Australia. Kohli walked into bat with India in a tricky situation losing both their openers in the powerplay. 

Kohli strung together a crucial 91 run partnership with Shreyas Iyer to put India in control of the match. From then on Virat played with a measured approach and brought India closer to the final. 

Just when Kohli's 83rd international century looked inevitable, he tried to slog Adam Zampa for a six only to be caught at Long On. Nevertheless his 84 runs knock with a strike rate of 85.71 was enough to secure a comfortable win for India and yet another man of the match crown.

IND vs AUS  First Innings Summary 

The first innings started off in cagey fashion as Australia missed their opener mathew short due to injury. Stand in opener Cooper Conelly failed to make an impression as he was dismissed for a duck by Mohammed Shami in the third over of the innings. 
 

Despite the early setback, Travis Head started carving out India with a quickfire innings of 39 in 33 balls. But just when it looked like Head could potentially take the game beyond India, Rohit Sharma resorted to Varun Chakravarthy and the mystery spinner came up trumps once again as he got rid of Head in the 9th over. 
 

After Head's departure captain Steve Smith alongside Marnua Lauschagne stabilised the Aussie innings with a 50 run partnership. Steve Smith led from the front with a knock of 73 and was looking set to lead the Kangaroos to a total of 300 before being dismissed by Mohammed Shami. A vital knock of 61 by Alex Carey helped Australia set a target of 264 to chase.

IND vs AUS 2nd Innings Summary 
 

Chasing 264, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill came out with intent. Rohit Sharma rodenhis luck as he was dropped at point in second over by Connolly and then in 3rd over by Lauschagne. Ben Dwarshuis got the important breakthrough of Shubman Gill in the 5th over.  And soon after Rohit Sharma also departed.

Thanks to a splendid partnership by Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, the Indian batting unit was back in control of the match and once Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli departed it was already too late for Australia to bounce back as Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul provided a power packed finish. 

Rohit's horror streak continues

Despite guiding India to yet another ICC Final, the luck just doesn't seem to be on Rohit Sharma's side when it comes to coin toss ahead of the game. When the coin toss fell in the favour of Australian skipper Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma felt helpless. With this Sharma has now lost an unprecedented 11 consecutive tosses in ODIs. 

Given the nature of the Dubai pitch, winning toss is crucial as chasing totals have been trickier on the ground. However, Rohit Sharma said to Ravi Shastri at toss that the pitch has been unpredictable hence losing the toss wasn't necessarily play an important role.