Australia not only missed their awesome trio of Starc , Hazelwood, and Cummins but missed the bat of Mathew Short due injury, whilst taking the risk of introducing leg spinner Tanvveer Sangha in place of Spencer Jhonson against a strong batting line up against any form of spin ends as futile for Australia with ultimately Virat Kohli coming to the party with a match winning 84.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first against India Steve Smith made the correct call, but stitching a par score of 264 all out against India was definitely not their game plan.
Conway Connoly, the replacement for Mathew Short, grew up playing his cricket at the WACA , where the ball comes onto the bat.
This was too evident as he was beaten delivery after delivery y Indian seamers Mohd Shami and Hardick Pandya by not getting bat to ball before conceeding nine dot deliveries and ultimately dismissed without disturbing the scorers as Australia started with an Oman strike of losing the First wicket for just 4 runs and that too in an all important semi-final.
Guess he lacked the experience and was trying to square drive on the off side, like what he does in Perth, but it does not work in Dubai, and that too against an experienced seam pair.
Travis Head and Steve Smith got Australia onto a firm foundation with Travis Head making a brisk 39 before his over enthusiasm cost Australia his wicket with the score on 54 , as he fell victim to Varun Chakrawathi trying to go over the top for a top spinner.
The presence of Steve Smith is always a thorn in the flesh of India because the Australian skipper is a great player against spin.
He built a good partnership with Marnus Labuchange and Alex Carey. However, the turning point was when he got himself out at 73 , after playing eye-catching exquisite strokes with Australia lining themselves for a score around 300 .
Mohammad Shami always had the better of Steve Smith even in the past. Sadly, he became a victim against a Mohd Shami low full toss bowled at 141km according to the speed gun , with Australia on 198 for 6 wickets. Australia also got dented to a great extent when Jos Inglis was dismissed for 11 runs by Ravindra Jadeja before the departure of Steve Smith with Australia left with the last recognised pair of Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey.
In a crunch, Semi final this equation, especially with the strong Indian 4-man option, is very vulnerable in setting India a challenging chase.
Maxwell let the side down when Australia needed him so badly in batting through the death overs. He was bowled by Axer Patel in the last ball of his final over , which opened the flood gates for India to get right back into the game.
Alex Carey made a brilliant 64 but fell victim to the golden arm of Sheyes Ayer, who sent in a direct hit at the stumps covering a distance of almost 20 meters from deep fine leg to run out the danger man Alex Carey whilst the left hander was in pursuit of a risky second run to keep the strike. The dismissal of Carey was a huge blow to Australia securing a defendable total of 290 runs. They were bowled out for 264 runs, a par score which is not good enough against a strong Indian batting lineup.
No doubt Mohammad Shami was the pick of the bowlers for India with 3 for 48, Varun Chakravarthy 2 for 49, Jadeja 2 for 40 with Axel Patel 1 for 43 and Hardik Pandya chipping in with 1 for 40.
A target of 265 was never going to challenge India. They had a few anxious moments losing both openers Subman Gill for 2 and Rohit Sharma for 28 with India in a shade below par at one stage on 42 for 2 wickets.
Chase master Virat Kholi walks in makes 84, Sheyes Ayer shows his weight in gold with 45, and the pair stich a 92 run partnership for the 3rd wicket , displaying excellent skills in rotating strike , to pave the way for K.L Rahul to remain unbeaten on 35 with Axer Patel contributing 27 runs with Pandya making making 28 runs in the death overs , whilst the Australian 2nd String bowling attack was not good enough to defend a par score of 264.
India won by 4 wickets with 2.5 overs to spare and will play the final in Dubai against the winner of the second semi-final game between South Africa and New Zealand. Nathen Ellis took 2 scalps for 49 , Adam Zampa 2 for 60 Zampa was expensive by his standard , but spare a thought for the leg spinner because he not only bowled against the worlds best spin batting cordon, but without a fellow spinner to hunt in pairs which is a must in modern day cricket.
Indian bowlers, especially the spin juggernaut, won many accolades for their wicket to wicket bowling skills.
Indian bowlers, especially the spin cordon, won many accolades for their wicket to wicket bowling skills. However, it was Mohammad Shami who was outstanding against Australia with his upright seam and swing.
Virat Kholi was adjudicated as the player of the match.
We wish Australia a safe journey home.
