Indian players were left dejected as Smith got the luck working for him.
India and Australia are clashing in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 being played in Dubai on March 4, 2025. Australia won the toss and chose to bat first, as Rohit Sharma’s poor luck with the toss continued.
Australia made two changes as Copper Connolly came in for injured Matt Short, while Tanveer Sangha replaced Spencer Johnson to bolster the spin department. India, on the other hand, played with the same XI.
Mohammad Shami got India its first breakthrough as he had Cooper Connolly caught behind for a duck. Travis Head continued haunting the Indian team as Shami dropped a catch of his own bowling.
But after scoring 39 in 33 balls, Varun Chakaravarthy induced a false shot from Head and Shubman Gill took a good running catch. Then Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne got together for a 56-run partnership before Labuschagne was dismissed LBW by Ravindra Jadeja for 29 runs.
However, India would have gotten the wicket of Steve Smith before this had luck not favored the Australia captain.
A weird situation occurred when Axar Patel bowled a delivery to Steve Smith on the final ball of the 14th over. Smith received a hefty inside edge on his pad, and the ball trickled back towards the stumps. It made direct contact with the base of the off-stump, but the bails surprisingly did not move.
Smith, who watched the ball roll onto the stumps, made no move to stop it, possibly expecting the worst. However, to his luck, the bails remained securely in place, keeping him safe at the crease.
Despite the ball making a solid impact on the stumps, the laws of cricket state that a hitter is out only if the bails are entirely dislodged. This uncommon event left Indian players and supporters dejected, while Australians breathed a sigh of relief.
Check here: