The Australian squad was swept out in 49.3 overs in the current Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final 1, and India is now chasing 265 runs.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, gained control of the match against Nathan Ellis after making a few enjoyable strokes early in his innings.
He smashed a powerful boundary down the wicket. Chris Gaffaney, the on-field umpire, nearly got whacked for the bold stroke made by the great opener, who was in the line of fire. In the seventh over of the chase, Gaffaney responded quickly and displayed lightning-fast reflexes to get out of the way of the ball, which Rohit smashed with tremendous force.
SMASHED IT!
Rohit Sharma’s boundary has everyone thinking, should umpires start wearing helmets?#ChampionsTrophyOnJioStar
LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2 & Sports18-1!
Start Watching FREE on JioHotstar: https://t.co/B3oHCeWFge pic.twitter.com/cAbrKgMezk
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 4, 2025
Australia won the toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and decided to bat first in the match. Travis Head, despite a sleepy start, made a devastating impact inside the opening powerplay, adding 39 runs off 33 balls, while opener Cooper Connolly left early. At long range, Varun Chakravarthy’s head was caught by Shubman Gill, giving India their second breakthrough.
Following that, a steady 55-run partnership between Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne gave the Australians a brief respite from the match. Despite Labuschagne’s exit, captain Smith carried on with his good fortune, scoring 73 runs off 96 balls on a sluggish track while masterfully handling the challenging circumstances. Another outstanding batsman was Alex Carey, who took 61 runs to help Australia reach a formidable 264. Mohammed Shami was India’s hero with the ball, taking three wickets.
Although the Men in Blue had scored 75 runs from the first 15 overs and lost a few wickets, the match is currently even-steven. Australia would want to keep Rohit’s batsmen within their first innings total, while they need to score an additional 190 runs to win. India’s openers, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, are currently batting at the crease, but both have left after failing to add anything noteworthy to the scoreboard.
India
