A Final At Stake For India
There was a lot to play for. A Champions Trophy final was at stake and though Australia had a better record against India in ICC Tournaments, India in Dubai on a slow, dry pitch was going to be a handful. The Aussies soon realised the same.
India Lose Another Toss But Head Goes Early
India lost another toss, the 14th in succession and Steve Smith, to my surprise elected to bat. Cooper Connolly replaced Mathew Short at the top of the order and failed to lay bat on ball. He missed everything what Shami bowled to him and when he did find the ball instead of thin air he edged it and Australia lost their first wicket early. Travis Head then threatened with a string of boundaries but a clever change in bringing Varun Chakravarthy did the trick. Head mistimed one and was caught by Gill at long off.
Smith & Carey Push Australia to 264
Smith and Labuschagne began to repair and slowed down in the process as the Indian spin quarter of Varun, Kuldeep, Axar and Jadeja tightened the screws. The effort in breaking the shackles a bit too early for the purists led to wickets. Maxwell disappointed once again but Alex Carey played a little gem to push Australia to 264 at the end of the innings.
India With The Advantage
With a bowling arsenal much below par for Australia, India had the upper hand going into the break. The target was a tricky one though, but still the depth in India’s batting gave the edge to the men in blue.
Virat Kohli The King of Chases
Virat Kohli once again proved his Kingship when it came to chasing targets and once Gill and Rohit Sharma departed he just held fort. He put up a brilliant partnership of 91 with Shreyas Iyer and then held one end up to stitch meaningful runs with Axar ( 44 ) and with KL Rahul ( 47 ) to ensure that India was not losing the game. Hardik Pandya then came in and finished the game.
India emerged victorious with 4 wickets to spare and shall play the Final on Sunday. Virat for his fine 84 was adjudged the Player of the Match.
What an innings, what a player !
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