IND vs AUS: Kohli’s 84, Hardik’s sixes, and Rahul’s Fnishing Touch Propel India to FINAL

5th March 2025 at 8:59 AM

2 minutes read

India beat Australia by four wickets in the Champions Trophy semi-final and reached the final. Australia batted first and gave India a target of 265 runs. India chased it down in 48.1 overs. Virat Kohli scored the most runs for India with 84. Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, and KL Rahul also played really well.

When Kohli got out at 84, Australia tried to fight back, but Hardik Pandya hit big sixes to stop them. This is the first time India has reached the Champions Trophy final since 2017.

Rohit Sharma is now the first captain to take India to the finals of all four big ICC tournaments. He led India in the 2023 World Test Championship final, the 2023 ODI World Cup final, the 2024 T20 World Cup final, and now the 2025 Champions Trophy final. He has made history with this record.

In this match, Rohit Sharma lost the toss, and India kept their streak of losing 14 tosses in a row in ODIs. Australia didn’t start well, and Mohammed Shami took a wicket early. But then Travis Head and Steve Smith made a good partnership. Head was playing fast, just like he did in the last match against Afghanistan, where he scored 50 runs in 34 balls. Today, Varun Chakravarthy got him out on the first ball of the ninth over, which helped India relax a bit.

Head often plays well in big ICC matches, so India wanted him out quickly. He had troubled India before in the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship finals.

After Head was out, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne added 56 runs together. Australia reached 198 runs by the 37th over, and Smith looked like he might get 100. But Shami got him out, and then Australia lost more wickets, ending with 265 runs.

Steve Smith scored the most for Australia with 73 runs. For India, Shami took three wickets, and Chakravarthy took two.

When India started batting, they lost Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma early, with only 43 runs. It seemed like India might lose, but Kohli and Iyer added 91 runs together. Iyer got out for 45, and then Kohli teamed up with Axar Patel and KL Rahul. When India needed 40 runs from 45 balls, Kohli got out for 84.

Australia made it tough by stopping easy runs, but Hardik Pandya hit three huge sixes to ease the pressure. Then KL Rahul hit a six to win the game for India. He scored 42 runs off 34 balls.