Virat Kohli missed out on a potential 52nd ODI century as India defeated Australia by 4 wickets to enter the final of Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Tuesday. In the semi-final game, Kohli fell for 84 off 98 balls with the help of five fours. The right-handed batter was looking solid in the middle but suddenly played a lofted shot down the ground and ended up losing his wicket. Kohli handed an easy catch to Ben Dwarshuis at long-on on the bowling of Adam Zampa in the 43rd over of India’s chase of 265. While the star batter lost his wicket, KL Rahul, who was at the other end, was already playing big hits with India needing even less than a run-a-ball to win the game.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!As Kohli got out playing an aerial shot, a disappointed Rahul at the other end was heard saying, “Main maar raha tha naa (I was playing big shots).”
Kl Rahul saying: Me maar rha tha na ( After kohli threw his wicket) pic.twitter.com/Vb6oOdoOgy
— It’s_Harshit (@Mahirat_k_choda) March 4, 2025
The Rohit Sharma-led side chased down a target of 265 runs in 48.1 overs. Apart from Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (45), KL Rahul (42 not out) and Hardik Pandya (28) also played crucial knocks.
KL Rahul to Virat Kohli after the dismissal:
“Main maar raha tha na yaar (I was hitting it, man)”. pic.twitter.com/iHE9g3FPUA
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 4, 2025
Earlier, disciplined bowling effort helped India bundle out Australia for 264 after getting an invitation to bowl first. Mohammed Shami was the pick of Indian bowlers with figures of 3 for 48 while Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja picked two apiece. For Australia, Steve Smith was the top-scorer with 73 runs off 96 balls. India are set to take on the winner of South Africa vs New Zealand match in the final.
Kohli added another feather to his highly illustrious cap as he became India’s leading run-scorer in the ICC Champions Trophy history during the semi-final clash against Australia at Dubai International Stadium.
Kohli surpassed former India opener Shikhar Dhawan’s tally of 701 runs in 10 games from 2013 to 2017. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is the third-highest scorer for India in the tournament with 665 runs in 13 matches from 1998 to 2004.
The 36-year-old reached the milestone during India’s chase of 265. Kohli achieved the feat in his 17th Champions Trophy match for India. He also completed his 74th ODI half-century in the match and surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most fifty-plus scores in ICC ODI tournaments. Kohli now has 24 fifty-plus scores in 58 innings while the legendary batter had 23 such scores in 58 innings in ICC ODI events.
(With IANS Inputs)
from: NDTV Sports-Latest