India marched into the final of the ICC Champions Trophy for the third successive time by putting out a clinical performance with both bat and ball against Australia.
The run-chase was guided largely by Virat Kohli, who went past 8000 runs while chasing in ODIs, in typical style with adequate support right through.
Kohli anchored the chase through some muddled waters to keep India on track. His entry to the chase was early with Shubman Gill chopping on in the fifth over.
But Rohit Sharma, who was dropped twice, was playing the characteristic aggressor early on unafraid to exploit the powerplay.
He hit 28 off 29 before missing a sweep against left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly to be trapped LBW.
At 43/2 inside eight overs, the chase was in the balance with Australia eyeing to make more inroads.
But Kohli, along with a resolute Shreyas Iyer, saw them through a worrisome period without many hiccups.
Their 91-run stand got the chase back on track while also laying a solid foundation to build from.
Kohli got to his 74th ODI fifty but was put down soon after. Connollly induced a leading edge only for a diving Glenn Maxwell to spill it at short-extra cover. Iyer, who had been compact until then, was done in by a slider from Zampa to be bowled for 45.
But Kohli found another able partner in Axar Patel, who got going with a slog-swept six off Tanveer Sangha. Their 44-run association off 50 balls pushed India closer towards the target while also ensuring that the required run-rate never got out-of-hand.
Axar was then bowled by Nathan Ellis off a shortish delivery that skidded onto the offstump.
KL Rahul, who followed, got into a similar template while Kohli held one end up adeptly. Heading into the last ten overs, India needed 65 but with six wickets in hand.
Rahul lofted a couple of boundaries in the following overs to keep reversing the pressure.
But in the same over, Kohli uncharacteristically, attempted a loft off Zampa only to hole out to long on.
With the equation still being run-a-ball, Australia had a chance to get back into the game.
However, Pandya’s 24-ball 28 tilted the game decisively in India’s favour as they finished the chase with 11 balls to spare.
It capped off a similarly clinical performance with the ball that had seen them restrict Australia to a par-score of 264 after they were asked to bowl.
India went in with an unchanged team, meaning they had four frontline spinners in the attack.
On a fresh surface, and against an Australian batting line-up that was keen on reversing the pressure, they were not able to exert the same amount of dominance as in the previous game.
But they still managed to create an impact right through. It started with Varun Chakravarthy, who struck with his first ball to Travis Head, having India’s nemesis miscuing a loft to long off.
Head had mixed success in his 33-ball 39. The first 11 balls he had faced yielded only one run before he managed to accelerate.
Mohammed Shami’s round-the-wicket line to both of Australian openers – Cooper Connolly being the other – had posed a few problems straight-up.
With Head’s acceleration too being nipped in the bud, India were on the ascendancy before they ran into Steven Smith.
The Australian captain looked the most assured of all the batters, and rode on the confidence marking his intentions with a lofted boundary off Axar Patel in his first over.
