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Following his team's loss in the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy, Australian skipper Steve Smith hailed Virat Kohli as the "best chaser the game has ever seen".
In a high-stakes clash dominated by echoes of the past, India avenged its 2023 final heartbreak by sending Australia through the exit door with an exhilarating four-wicket triumph in Dubai on Tuesday night. Virat's chase masterclass once again grabbed the spotlight as his perfectly-calculated knock of 84 runs guided India to a four-wicket win over Australia, lifting them from 43/2 to a successful run chase of 265 runs, which was proving to be tricky initially. Once again, the 36-year-old made a tough run-chase look like a cakewalk and re-wrote several records in the process. Speaking after the match in the post-match presser, Smith said about Virat, "He is arguably the best chaser the game has seen. He has done it numerous times against us. He controls the tempo of the game really well," the Australian skipper said. Smith hailed India for managing to keep the run-rate in check throughout during the run-chase and felt Aussies were a wicket or two away from changing the game. "But yeah, KL played really nicely at the end and Hardik did as well. So yeah, we took it as deep as we could, but yeah, they obviously chased really nicely," he added. Speaking on playing in Pakistan's Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and at Dubai International Stadium, Smith said that both pitches were "completely different". "This one is quite slow, two-paced, took some spin. I think the Gaddafi track is arguably one of the best one-day wickets in the world for batting. The ball skids on nicely, the outfield is lightning and yeah there is definite differences there," he added. Speaking on his own dismissal, Smith lamented the fact that he missed out on a full toss from Mohammed Shami which went through his stumps. "My plan was kind of to try and put the seamers under a bit more pressure and just rotate the spin but I did not do it very well. I obviously lost my wicket at probably a crucial stage as well so- had I batted a little bit deeper I potentially could have got up, as we said before, near 300 or something. Alex (Carey) was batting really nicely up the other end so yeah disappointing time to get out but that is the game sometimes," he added. Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. After an early wicket of Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (39 in 33 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) had a 50-run stand with Steve Smith. Smith carried on, with half-century stands against Marnus Labuschagne (29 in 36 balls, with two fours and a six) and Alex Carey (61 in 57 balls, with eight fours and a six). Carey was there till 48th over, untill a fine direct hit from Shreyas Iyer ended his knock. Australia was skittled out for 264 in 49.3 overs. Shami (3/48) was the top bowler for India, while Varun Chakravarthy (2/49) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/40) also unleashed a spin web. Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya took a wicket each. During the run chase, India lost skipper Rohit Sharma (28 in 29 balls, with three fours and a six) and Shubman Gill (8) early and were reduced to 43/2. From then on, a 91-run partnership between Virat and Shreyas Iyer (45 in 62 balls, with three fours) brought India back into the game. Virat also had a brief 44-run stand with Axar Patel (27 in 30 balls, with a four and six) and a 47-run stand with KL Rahul (42* in 34 balls, with two fours and two sixes). Hardik delivered a brief and fiery cameo, scoring 28 in 24 balls, with a four and three sixes, helping India seal a win. India finished at 267/6 in 48.1 overs. Nathan Ellis (2/48) and Adam Zampa (2/60) were the top bowlers for Australia. (ANI)
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