India defeated Australia by four wickets in a tightly fought semi-final in Dubai to qualify for the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy. These were the tactical calls that defined the game.
Australia pick Connolly over Fraser-McGurk
Australia had to pick a replacement for Matt Short at the top of the order. They had Jake Fraser-McGurk, an opener by designation in the squad, but they chose to promote Cooper Connolly, who had only opened once previously in his List A career, to the top. Connolly's stay at the crease was a painstaking one as he was worked over by Mohammed Shami for a nine-ball duck.
One of the factors that made Australia chose Connolly was his left-arm spin, which also came in handy in the second innings, but with the benefit of hindsight, the fans and management would wonder whether the explosiveness of Fraser-McGurk at the start of the innings, at a venue where free run-scoring gets difficult through the middle overs, would have been a better bet.
1st Semi-Final, India vs Australia
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India employ three spinners inside the first ten overs
To counter the Travis Head threat, India did something different. They brought on Kuldeep Yadav as the first spinner in the sixth over. That role has usually been played by Axar Patel and Kuldeep had bowled this early in an ODI match only once before. But India were proactive.
Kuldeep bowled two in his first spell, not troubling Head. Rohit Sharma then introduced the mystery man, Varun Chakravarthy in the ninth over and he struck gold first ball, getting rid of Head. With the two left-handed openers gone, the path was clear for Axar to replace Kuldeep in the last over of the powerplay.
Australia take the game on with the bat
Despite losing Connolly early, Head and Smith looked to maximise the first powerplay. Australia scored 63-2 off the first ten. That was followed by a nearly eight-over period of no boundaries as the Indian finger spinners started employing their trademark choke. However, the Australian batters weren't going to die wondering. Now well set, both Marnus Labuschagne and Smith started taking more risks, something other teams have failed to even try against India in Dubai.
Labuschagne played multiple slog sweeps, Smith danced down the track to Shami and lofted Jadeja over his head, while Alex Carey was his usual busy self, playing sweetly timed inside outs and sweeps. Smith was looking to press on the accelerator to make most use of the extra fielder inside the circle by the 40th over, but perished in doing so in the 37th. Glenn Maxwell was also dismissed in the next over, which ensured Australia wouldn't reach 300.
Rohit takes on Connolly and fails
Rohit started in his usual fashion, not taking time before he started to slog the ball in the powerplay. The Indian captain was riding his luck, having been dropped twice and played multiple other false shots. Steve Smith brought the left-arm spinner Connolly on in the eighth over to tackle Rohit and Virat Kohli and the move worked instantly. Rohit tried to sweep a full delivery behind square, only to miss it and be given out lbw. At 28 off 29, Rohit's knock looked eerily similar to his 2023 World Cup final innings, where he was out after providing a decent start. This time the result was going to be different though.
Kohli, Iyer put on a masterclass of ODI batting
The duo stitched a 91-run partnership off 111 balls playing seamers and spinners with utmost ease. Only seven boundaries were hit in the third-wicket stand, three of which came in the first two overs of the partnership, which happened to be inside the first powerplay. Kohli made his 24th score of 50 or more in ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy matches combined, going past Sachin Tendulkar.
Iyer used the crease to good effect, moving around and throwing the Australian spinners off their lines and lengths. By the time he was out for 45 off 62, India had a platform which was further consolidated by the time Kohli was dismissed, for 84 off 98.
Axar, KL play their roles to perfection
Axar came out with intent at No.5 with India needing another 131 off 23.4 overs. He took on the Australian spinners, reaching 26 off 27 by the end of the 34th over, forcing Smith to bring Nathan Ellis back who ended Axar's cameo at 27 off 30. Rahul walked in next and took on the mantle of taking risks from Axar while Kohli held fort at the other end. Rahul scored 31 off 26 out of the 47-run partnership he shared with Kohli.
Together, the Axar-Kohli and Rahul-Kohli partnerships added 91 off 98, out of which Kohli's contribution was 33 off 42 at a rate of 78.57, while Axar and Rahul combined to score 58 off 56 at a rate of 103.57 - perfect partnership batting.
Australia gamble at the death
India needed 65 off the last ten overs. Between Zampa and Maxwell, the two senior spinners, they had six overs left (Zampa's two and Maxwell's four), while between Ben Dwarshuis and Ellis, they had seven (Dwarshuis' four and Ellis' three). However, they chose to start the last ten overs with Tanveer Sangha, the inexperienced leggie. He was hit for eight runs before being replaced by Zampa for the 43rd over. India then needed 48 off 48.
Australia had the option of either looking to bowl defensive and string in dot balls, or attack and look for wickets. They did the latter.
Zampa tossed one up and was hit for six by Rahul. He tossed one up again, this time to Kohli, resulting in a wicket. Sangha replaced Zampa for the 45th over with India needing 36 off 36. After managing to bowl four dot balls to Hardik Pandya, Sangha's patience gave in and he went for the sucker ball, hoping to fetch a wicket. But Pandya was up to the task, hitting him for six and bringing the equation down. Pandya hit two more sixes in the 47th over, off Zampa, again off fuller deliveries aimed at buying a wicket than restricting runs, effectively sealing the game.
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