Dubai, Mar 4: Indian bowlers showed resilience, but notable half-centuries from Steve Smith and Alex Carey guided a somewhat lackluster Australia to a total of 264 all out in the Champions Trophy semifinal on Tuesday.
Australian captain Smith (73 runs off 96 balls, including 4 fours and 1 six) won a favorable toss, yet the batsmen failed to take full advantage of a well-prepared pitch at the DICS, surrendering their wickets due to reckless shots.
Smith was the backbone of Australia’s innings, forming three notable partnerships: 52 runs with Travis Head for the second wicket, 56 runs with Marnus Labuschagne for the third wicket, and a 54-run partnership with Carey (61 runs off 57 balls, with 8 fours and 1 six).
Australia’s position could have been significantly better had two of those partnerships developed further, but both fell short of expectations, starting with Head.
Few players enjoy as much fortune as Head, whose brief innings of 39 included several lucky moments—a dropped catch by Shami on his very first delivery, a close run-out, and a few inside edges narrowly avoiding the stumps.
Despite this, Head executed some impressive shots, including a six off Hardik Pandya and three consecutive fours off Shami.
This helped stabilize the innings after the early dismissal of Cooper Connolly, who opened with Head as he replaced the injured Matthew Short.
However, Chakravarthy ended Head’s innings by having him caught by a running Shubman Gill.
Labuschagne fell prey to a straighter delivery from the impressive Ravindra Jadeja (2/40), getting trapped in front.
Josh Inglis looked settled but fell to Jadeja with a weak shot, caught by Virat Kohli at short cover.
Nevertheless, Smith continued to score steadily, displaying excellent batting control, highlighted by a beautifully timed six off Jadeja.
Unfortunately, he was dismissed after an unfortunate new charge at a full toss from Shami that knocked his stumps down.
Glenn Maxwell entered the fray at a promising spot with the score at 198 for 5 and 13 overs remaining.
A quick, judicious innings could have put Australia in a commanding position, but an inexplicable back-foot shot against Axar Patel cost him his wicket.
Carey, meanwhile, remained focused at the crease, forging a crucial 34-run partnership with Ben Dwarshuis for the seventh wicket, pushing Australia past 250.
However, Carey’s innings ended as he was run out while ambitiously attempting a non-existent second run, falling prey to a brilliant direct hit by Shreyas Iyer.
Although chasing down a 250-plus target will prove challenging in the semifinals, India will be relieved as they once faced the prospect of a chase exceeding 300 runs. (Agencies)
