After losing to India by four wickets in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2025, Australian captain Steve Smith believes that the result would have been different if his team had set a target of more than 280.
Virat Kohli's innings of 84 runs and KL Rahul's (42 not out) and Hardik Pandya (28 off 24 balls) chased down the target of 265 runs to take India to the final of the eight-team competition.
In Australia's team batting first, captain Smith scored 73 runs while Marnus Labuschagne scored 61 runs. Indian bowlers bundled out Australia for 264 runs in 49.3 overs. Mohammed Shami took three wickets while Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets each.
"I think the bowlers did a really good job, they worked hard throughout, the spinners put pressure and took the game to the last," Smith said. It was a difficult wicket to bat on, the strike was tough to rotate. For the fast bowlers, it was a double-paced pitch. We could have probably scored a few more runs. We lost a couple of wickets at crucial times.
"If we had scored 280 or more, things would have been different. The way we have united. The bowling unit did a great job, some of the batsmen did well. We played exceptionally well against England. There are some very good cricketers, they will get better and better. "
Australia had landed in this tournament without fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. However, Australia's journey was good under the leadership of captain Steve Smith. However, Australia's weak link against India emerged in the form of their bowling. If Virat Kohli's wicket had been taken early, then perhaps the match could have been different.
India will now face the winner of the second semifinal between South Africa and New Zealand in the final to be held in Dubai on March 9.
--IANS