India vs Australia Highlights: The much-anticipated and glorified contest between India and Australia began amid an excited audience in Dubai in the 1st semi-final of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
The two giants of the game squared off in the ODI format two years after their last meeting in the World Cup 2023, where India lost a home final to the mighty Aussies. India’s only win against Australia in a limited-overs ICC semi-final came in the 2007 T20 World Cup.
India also marched into the semis against the Aussies, not having defeated them in an ICC knockout match ever since the 2011 World Cup quarter-final.
The toss coin went up at Dubai and fell in favour of the Aussie skipper Steve Smith, who chose to bat first on this occasion, citing the difficulty of chasing on this slow track, as it might go on to be slower as the night advances.
Table of Contents
India vs Australia Highlights Today Match
India vs Australia Highlights: Smith and Carey carry Aussie innings to a respectable total
Having won the toss and choosing to bat first, Australian opener Travis Head came alongside his new opening partner Cooper Connolly. The youngster made his debut in the ICC on the occasion of a semi-final against the No. 1 ranked ODI side in the world.
Travis Head, on the other hand, proved to be a major concern for the Indians in recent years, especially with his supremacy in ICC knockouts against the Men in Blue. However, on this occasion, the Indian pacer Shami, who drew first blood, was followed by India’s new spin sensation Varun Chakravarthy, who dismissed the dangerous-looking head on the very first delivery he bowled at him.
Steven Smith, the skipper, played the most ideal innings, looking to hand Australia stability early on alongside Marnus Labuschagne. However, wickets kept falling on regular occasions, as Labuschagne and Inglis fell in quick intervals to Indian veteran Jadeja.
Smith and Alex Carey looked very comfortable with the spinners as they built a very crucial partnership, taking Australia to a handy score nearing 200 with 6 wickets in hand. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma then brought back his most experienced pacer Mohammed Shami, who, with immediate effect, got the wicket of the set Australian skipper for 73.
The lower order of the Aussies contributed a significant 40 runs alongside Alex Carey, who nudged off a great half-century, as the Aussies were bowled out for 264 in the 49.3 overs.
India vs Australia Highlights: Veteran Virat too good for inexperienced Aussie bowling unit
India came in eyeing a quite chasable target of 265, though the batters felt the heat of runs on the board in a semi-final match.
Indian opener and skipper Rohit Sharma was given loads of opportunities after Connolly and Labuschagne dropped him twice within two overs. Shubman Gill looked uncomfortable as he was the first Indian wicket to fall.
Connolly came back towards the end of the power play as he dismissed the Indian skipper, giving Australia some chance in the game. Shreyas Iyer, India’s most in-form batter alongside the chase master Virat Kohli, put on a stunning partnership for the 3rd wicket, as both batters nearly scored fifty runs.
Shreyas Iyer’s wicket was another crucial juncture in the game, though Kohli kept the scoreboard ticking from the other end. Axar Patel was eventually dismissed of a cross batted shot played off Ellis when he got through the batsman defence.
Adam Zampa picked Virat Kohli’s wicket in the 43rd over of the game, but it was too late since the Indian side then needed to score less than 6 runs per over for the rest of the innings, with the big-hitters yet to come. Eventually, Hardik Pandya, the muscleman for India hurried the chase with a stunning cameo, as KL Rahul finished it in style with a six as India sealed their win by 4 wickets to advance into their third consecutive final of an ICC event.
India vs Australia Highlights: Records broken in the 1st semi-final
Virat Kohli surpassed former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to have taken the second most catches in ODI career among non-wicketkeepers. He now has 161 caught dismissals, surpassing Ponting’s 160. He is only behind Mahela Jayawardene, who commendably has 218 catches.
Virat Kohli also took his 335th catch, which marked him as the highest catch-taker for India across all formats, surpassing his former coach Rahul Dravid, who had 334 catches for India earlier, the highest.
Rohit Sharma, with the only six against Nathan Ellis in the second over of the innings, turned the batter with the most sixes in ICC ODI events, surpassing destructive West Indies opener Chris Gayle. Rohit now has 65 sixes, surpassing Gayle’s 64.
Virat Kohli now has the highest runs scored for India in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli also went past the great Sachin Tendulkar to score 24 fifty-plus scores batting for India in the ICC events, as the former legend had 23 such scores. Virat Kohli also has 10 50+ scores in knockouts of ICC events, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s and Steve Smith’s 6 such scores each.
Virat Kohli went on to become the first player to score 1000+ runs in the ICC knockout matches, the greatest ever in the game of cricket.
ALSO READ: Champions Trophy: Inzamam-ul-Haq’s Bold Call: Should International Boards Boycott the IPL?
