AS RUN-CHASES go, this was pretty close to perfect. The target was challenging without being daunting, the conditions bowler-friendly but not as skewed as they had been in the three previous games at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India had the master of the chase, yes, but also a middle order brimful of belief and confidence, all of which translated to a comfortable four-wicket over perennial bugbear Australia on Tuesday night. Their first victory over Australia in a knock-out fixture of an ICC 50-over event since 2011 catapulted Rohit Sharma’s men to Sunday’s final of the Champions Trophy, where they await the winners of Wednesday’s second semi-final in Lahore between South Africa and New Zealand. Steve Smith had little hesitation in opting to bat on a dry track that actually played better than it looked or was anticipated.

 

The Aussies had bolstered their spin resources by bringing in leggie Tanveer Sangha for pacer Spencer Johnson, perhaps expecting the surface to behave like it had on Sunday when India defeated New Zealand, but this was by far a better batting strip and Australia’s 264 all out was a little below par under the circumstances. It was still the highest score at this venue in this tournament, and India had to bat well to scale it down even if batting wasn’t as tricky as in the previous games. Shubman Gill chopped Ben Dwarshuis on and Rohit failed to cash in on let-offs when 13 and 14 and at 43 for two, India wobbled just a little bit. Fortunately, they had the class of Virat Kohli and the consistency of Shreyas Iyer to fall back on.

 

Kohli has revelled in runchases in the past and it was no different this time as he quickly hit his stride, running with usual alacrity between the stumps. Iyer is something of a ‘roll’ player who scores runs in clutches and he extended his good form with another knock in the 40s while helping his former captain put on 93 for the third wicket. India have great depth and versatility in batting and even after Iyer fell, missing a cut off a straight ball from Adam Zampa, there was no sign of panic. Kohli should have fallen for 51 but Glenn Maxwell shelled a sitter at short extra-cover; even though there was no century and Kohli didn’t exactly haul his team over the line, his 84 was a wonderful compilation that calmed nerves in the dressing room even though Smith used his thin resources superbly. Axar Patel helped Kohli add 44, after which Kohli and KL Rahul put on 47 when Kohli fell against the run of play, holing out to long-on. But India had Hardik Pandya at No. 7 and even though he played a host of dots, he caught up with three sixes, including two in Zampa’s final over to ensure that the result was a mere formality.

 

India should have had a wicket with the first legal delivery of the day but Mohammed Shami put Travis Head down on his followthrough. The left-hander launched into a series of aggressive strokes until falling in Varun Chakravarthy’s first over, but he had done enough in Smith’s company to set the foundation for a competitive score. Smith was the glue that held the innings together, much like Kohli for India later on, though it was left to Alex Carey, enterprising and innovative, to bolster the rate of scoring with a splendid half-century that threatened to take Australia close to 280. The best dot ball in ODIs, especially, is the one that brings a wicket and India kept plugging away. Shami cleaned up Smith with a full toss and Glenn Maxwell perished in the next over to Axar, emphatically thwarting Australia’s designs of a roaring finish.