Champions Trophy semis: Clinical India finally exorcise the ghost of Australia

It was a clinical India which turned up at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday, pipping 50-over world champions Australia by four wickets to make the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. The win by no means avenged the heartbreak of the ICC World Cup final in Ahmedabad in 2023, but the manner of victory can help in getting the monkey off India’s back against the yellow shirts in future ICC tournaments.

There is still a final to be played on Sunday, 9 March against either New Zealand or South Africa, but Virat Kohli showed he still deserved the chasemaster’s tag with an enterprising 84. The unbeaten 100 against Pakistan, his 51st in ODIs, was more about a personal landmark but the former Indian captain’s reassuring presence in the middle — right through two valuable partnerships with Shreyas Iyer and then Axar Patel — made the chase look easier.

A target of 265, set by the Australians who decided to bat first, would have been a perfectly par score on any of the previous surfaces where India won their last three league matches. However, the unused strip chosen for the most anticipated contest of the tournament so far, played far better — albeit with a certain amount of grip and turn — and chasing was an easier ballgame under the lights.

Steve Smith, with captaincy thrust upon him once again in the absence of Pat Cummins, top scored for his team and then rung in the changes among his bowlers in search of breakthroughs. However, it was too much of an ask for an inexperienced bowling line-up, which sorely missed the Big Three of their pace attack and had only Adam Zampa as a frontline spinner.  

It was a characteristically dour 73 from Smith, ready for a scrap against the formidable quartet of Indian spinners, full of hard run singles as it contained only four hits to the fence and a six. He enjoyed a big slice of luck when in the 14th over, his thick inside edge to a delivery from Axar gently rolled on to the stumps but much to India’s dismay, did not dislodge the bails.

A 56-run partnership between him and Marnus Labuschagne — two of the best players of spin in the Aussie line-up — negotiated the most critical phase of the innings after an impatient Colin Conolly fell for no score and dangerman Travis Head fell to the trap laid by Varun Chakravarthy. The spin-heavy Indian attack stuck to their job and did well to contain Australia, who were 196 for four after 36 overs and looked good for a total in the region of 300.

Much as the onus was on the spinners to contain the Australians who prefer the ball to come onto the bat, comeback man Mohammed Shami proved his worth for the big occasion as an attempted yorker from the senior pro, who bowled within himself after coming back from a major injury, crashed into Smith’s stumps. It was also Shami who drew first blood by removing an impatient Conolly, and later added the wicket of tailender Nathan Ellis.