India's pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who missed the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 due lower back injury was ecstatic after Rohit Sharma-led side beat Australia by four wickets to reach the final. On Instagram, Bumrah shared Indian Cricket Team's post saying "INTO THE FINALS" and wrote "Unstoppable" accompanied by fire emojis.
Half-centuries from captain Steve Smith and Alex Carey helped Australia post 264 on the board after opting to bat first. Indian opners departed early in the run chase. Virat Kohli shared crucial partnerships with middle-order batters Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and KL Rahul to take India to doorstep of victory. After his 84-run knock, Hardik Pandya and Rahul outplayed Australia in the slog overs. Rahul finished the run chase with a six as India won with 11 balls to spare.
This is the highest run chase against Australia in an ICC ODI tournament's knockout encounter. The previous record belonged to India as well when they chased down 261 in ODI World Cup 2011 quarterfinal. Rohit was satisfied with his team's performance and called it a clinical effort.
"Till the last ball is bowled, nothing is certain. That's how this game is. Halfway through the game, we felt like it's a reasonable score. We had to really bat well to get that score because the nature of the pitch doesn't allow you to just come in and keep playing the way you want to play. We were very clinical with the bat. Yes, we got the runs in the 48th over, but I thought we were calm and composed in our chase," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
Kohli was named 'Player of the match' for his 84-run knock. He got out to Adam Zampa trying to play a lofted shot over long-on. He missed another milestone but was not concerned about it.
When will Bumrah return to the field?
Bumrah has already started bowling in the nets. He is expected to be fit ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their opening encounter on March 23.