India ends 14-yr wait, defeats Australia to secure Champions Trophy final spot

India progressed to the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final with a hard-fought, edge-of-the-seat four-wicket win over Australia. This was an emotionally charged victory for India, their first against the kangaroos in an ICC knockout in more than €14 years. India last thrashed Australia in the quarter-finals of the ODI World Cup in Motera in 2011.

Split Australian innings

Batting first, Cooper Connolly went without opening the account. But Travis Head gave life to the run chase, like the fireworks paints on the 2023 ODI World Cup final day. For all his fireworks, he scored 39 only. Steve Smith steadied the innings with 73s, getting good support from Marnus Labuschagne. Alex Carey contributed well down the order for a total of 61, leading Australia to a total of 264. Mohammed Shami was the leading Indian bowler with three wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy picked up two each.

The masterful Indian chase

India had a fairly rollercoaster chase with Shubman Gill getting out early. Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant knock after being given a few lives, but Kohli and Shreyas Iyer put on a 91-run stand that turned the game on its head for Australia. Kohli scored 84 runs for his innings and was given the Player of the Match for his performance. KL Rahul's 42* was also handed over with plenty of fanfare, and Hardik Pandya contributed wonderfully with a score of 28 too that took India home comfortably. Axar Patel contributed a bit more, getting 27 runs after Iyer was gone, and it turned out to be an easy victory for India.