IND vs AUS | Pandya-Rahul add finishing touches to Kohli’s revengeful masterclass as India book finals spot

Opting to bat first, the latest Australian opener Cooper Conolly suffered a baptism by fire as he failed to score off eight Mohammed Shami deliveries before nicking off the ninth to depart for a duck in the third over. His opening partner Travis Head did not enjoy a flowing start either, managing a solitary run in his first 11 deliveries, before breaking lose with a boundary and a maximum off Hardik Pandya followed by a hattrick of fours against Shami. However, the blitzkrieg did not survive the introduction of Varun Chakravarthy who had the Australian ace hole out off his very first ball for a 33-ball 39 to leave the score reading 63/2 at the end of the powerplay. With the field now spread out, the Indian spin quartet tried to strangle the attritional duo of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne but the batters were happy to tick the scoreboard along, adding a crucial 56 runs for the third wicket albeit in 85 deliveries. The pressure eventually culminated in Ravindra Jadeja trapping Marnus plumb in front of the stumps and the veteran had Josh Inglis caught at short cover soon after to suddenly reduce their rivals to 144/4 at the end of 27 overs. Nevertheless, Smith kept trotting along at the other end having brought up his half-century and found much needed impetus with the arrival of Alex Carey who did not shy away from playing his shots. However, when Smith tried to replicate his younger counterpart, he horridly missed the ball as Shami’s fulltosh crashed into his stumps but not before the partnership had aggregated 54 runs at nearly run-a-ball. Glenn Maxwell played a characteristic six and out innings to further the pressure on Carey but the wicket-keeper batter handled it brilliantly to shepherd the tail along and get up to 61 before being run-out in the 48th over. Calm cameos from Ben Dwarshuis and Nathan Ellis meant Australia managed to play nearly the entirety of their 50 overs and set a competitive target of 265.

In response, Rohit Sharma got India off to a typical flying start with a spree of boundaries either side of Shubman Gill playing on a Dwarshuis length ball onto his stumps in the fifth over. The Men in Blue had raced to 43 in eight overs by the time the Indian skipper hole out off Conolly for 28 before a few more boundaries from the bats of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer got their powerplay score to 55/2. The duo were happy to follow the template propounded earlier in the day by their rivals as their pratnership ticked close to a century with Australia desperate for a scalp. It finally arrived through a Adam Zampa topspinner that rattled into the top of Iyer’s stump to strand him five short of a third half-century in the tournament, but India found themselves well placed at 134/3 with over 23 overs to go. Kohli had already registered his half-century off 53 balls and in Axar Patel found another capable partner to anchor the chase further. However, the boundaries grew scarcer, culminating in a rash shot from Axar in the 35th over that sent his off-stump flying. The required run rate climbed past six for the first time in the 39th over after KL Rahul joined the crease and read a round 6.50 with 10 overs to go. However, just when Australia seemed to have gained a footing, Rahul smashed boundaries in two straight overs and struck Zampa for a maximum down the ground to take India within 40 runs of victory. Yet, the excitement got to Kohli and the veteran holed out for 84 the very same over, opening up the possibility of yet another twist in the tale. Hardik Pandya furthered the tension with a streak of dot balls on several occasions but backed them up with a big hit ecery time and his two sixes off Zampa in the 47th over practically killed off the game. Even though the all-rounder holed with six runs still to get, Rahul struck a maximum with 10 balls to spare to seal their spot in the final.

India beat Australia say that loud and clear 🥹🥹🥹 It definitely healed something in us. Thank you boys we fuckn made it 🫡💥 pic.twitter.com/wRwVAysOw2

— Krithz (@ival_krithika) March 4, 2025

How can someone hate this man ? He is literally smiling after missing a well deserved century. He doesn’t care for personal records all he cares about is making team India win . 💗🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/n6v0FTPcTS

— Kohlified. (@123perthclassic) March 4, 2025