Dubai: Of Virat Kohli’s 51 ODI hundreds, 28 have come in a run-chase. In 21 of them, Kohli has taken India past the finish line. On Tuesday, he couldn’t finish off the chase, statistically speaking. His 84 (98b, 5×4) though was as good as a hundred as modern cricket’s ultimate chase master anchored yet another time to take India into the Champions Trophy final.
India restricted Australia to 264 after they elected to bat and chased it down in 48.1 overs at the Dubai International Stadium. They await the winners of the second semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa in Lahore on Wednesday with the final to be played in Dubai on Sunday.
Chasing 265 on a slow wicket can prove trickier than making short work of 365 on a batter-friendly pitch. At what stage does Kohli shift gears? When the third wicket was lost in the 26th over after Shreyas Iyer, India’s most proficient batter of spin bowling, goes with half the target still left to be achieved? Or when they lost their left-handed floater Axar Patel in the 35th over with run-a-ball still required? As it turned out, he never needed to.
Kohli knows the best. He almost operates like a supercomputer in ODI run chases, who weighs risk-reward better than most others. Give him a big stage, give him a pressure situation and he thrives.
It did not matter that he was up against Adam Zampa, a leg-spinner who has troubled him before. That Australia also had a left-arm spinner who might trouble him, and he almost lost his wicket to Cooper Connolly. But close shaves are not remembered, winners are. Kohli proved he was one, yet again.
After Kohli holed out at long-on against Zampa, it was down to KL Rahul, India’s calm wicket-keeper, and Hardik Pandya with his big-hitting. Rahul was picked for a reason. He once opened, then was slotted down at No.5, and now comes in at No.6. Playing according to the team plan, his chance to be a hero would only come when the heat is on. Rahul (42* – 34b) ensured there would be no late hiccups, seeing the team home with a clean six off Glenn Maxwell that brought smiles to the Indian dug out.
Zampa’s battle with Kohli was the most anticipated. The moment the field was spread out, the leg-spinner was handed the ball. Kohli wasn’t going to play the fancy strokes. One feature of good run chases on challenging surfaces is how much of partnership batting one gets to see. After India lost their openers early, Shreyas Iyer’s presence at the other end was comforting for Kohli.
Iyer played more of Zampa and took the odd risk. He played in more unconventional areas while Kohli focused on strike rotation. With Zampa dealt with without much trouble in the early middle-overs, Kohli brought out his square cut too. Once he began rocking back with ease, he looked a different player. When Zampa ultimately did return into the attack in the 25th over, Kohli brought up his fifty by pulling him for a boundary.
Zampa managed to end Iyer’s innings on 45 (62b) but India had Axar Patel, whose 30-ball 27 also carried value. After pacer Nathan Ellis produced a short-pitched ball to send Axar back, Kohli kept India in the hunt.
After calling the toss right, Steve Smith became the glue around whom the rest of the Australian batting line-up revolved. But the toss advantage didn’t prove as prominent as was expected once the Australian batters began negotiating India’s spin-heavy attack. While Varun Chakravarty got the dangerman Travis Head, Mohammed Shami (10-0-48-3) made his years of experience count with his mixing of length bowling with the new ball, control in the middle and accurate yorkers and slower balls at the death.
With more luck, Shami could have ended with a richer bag of wickets. It was one of those days when the ball didn’t stick to his sweaty palms. Had the two return chances – Head on nought to his right and Smith on 36 to his left – stuck, Australia would have been in more strife.
Shami’s new-ball spell was short, lasting only three overs. That’s only because Head was going strong. There was enough evidence that he would have more work to do. Shami eventually bowled four sharp spells in which the biggest blow he struck was to end the ominous looking Smith 73 (96b).
At 198/4 in 36.3 overs, and with Smith controlling the innings, Australia were marching towards a comfortably above par total. India’s shoulders were drooping. Skipper Rohit Sharma was getting animated, looking angry and frustrated. Just then, Smith missed a Shami full toss in his attempt to slog through the off side to be bowled. In the very next over, Glenn Maxwell (7) tried to whip a Axar Patel straighter one but missed and was bowled. In the space of six balls, India were back in the match.