Virat Kohli starred with the bat as India chased down 264 with four wickets remaining.
India are through to the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy after beating Australia in Dubai on Tuesday, with Virat Kohli’s 84 spearheading their four-wicket win.
The tournament favourites will face either New Zealand or South Africa in the championship match on Sunday, with cricket bookmakers putting them at -250 to win their third title.
Live betting odds hung in the balance after 50 overs, however, with Australia posting a gettable yet competitive 264 batting first.
Travis Head (39) was the early aggressor for Australia after Cooper Connolly — called in to replace the injured Matt Short — fell for a nine-ball duck.
Head and Steve Smith (73) moved their side through to a healthy 54/1 before the dangerous South Australian was snaffled by Varun Chakravarthy.
Smith continued on as Australia’s linchpin until the 37th over, with Marnus Labuschagne (29) and Josh Inglis (11) chipping in before Alex Carey (61) came to the crease.
Carey would go on to work with the tail to massage the total towards 250, falling in the 48th over as Australia spluttered through the back end of their innings.
Mohammed Shami (3/48) was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming key wickets and proving tough to get away in the final overs.
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With 264 on the board, Australia removed both Shubman Gill (11) and Rohit Sharma (28) inside eight overs but were then subjected to a match-defining partnership between Kohli and Shreyas Iyer (45).
The duo put on 91 runs for the third wicket, with Kohli continuing on to bat alongside Axar Patel (27) and KL Rahul (42*) to knock off the lion’s share of the chase.
Hardik Pandya then played a useful cameo with a rapid 28 runs, getting India home with 11 balls and four wickets to spare.
“Till the last ball is bowled, nothing is certain,” Indian captain Rohit said after the match.
“Halfway through the game, we felt it was a reasonable score, and we have to bat really, really well.
“I thought we were very clinical with the bat. We were very calm and composed.
“We wanted that big stand which Shreyas and Virat had.
“Then the shots by Hardik in the end were very important.
“Very happy with that.”
With India heading into the Champions Trophy final as heavy favourites across cricket betting sites, Rohit believes this win will be a big confidence boost.
“When you want to play the final, you want all your guys in form,” he said.
“That is something that gives us a lot of confidence.
“We will not think too much about it.
“When the time comes, we will think about it.
“I also want the guys to relax.”
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