Steve Smith's Australia face India in Dubai Steve Smith's Australia face India in Dubai Steve Smith is thrilled Australia took a chance in travelling to Dubai ahead of the Champions Trophy semi-finals. (Preview | Full Coverage | More Cricket News)kkkkjogo
Australia sealed their place in the semi-finals after Friday's clash with Afghanistan was called off due to rain.
Afghanistan had made a strong start, posting 273 from their innings as they were led by Sediqullah Atal's 85, but rain stopped play in Australia's 13th over.
It meant Smith's team progressed on net run rate, though they were not sure of their last-four opponents until India beat New Zealand on Sunday.
With hosting duties shared between the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, had New Zealand won, then they would have played Australia in Lahore.
However, India's win means Tuesday's semi-final will be played in Dubai, where Australia's squad made the decision to travel to.
"We guessed right in the end," Smith said on Monday.
palayuzu"So yeah, ideal to be here and have a couple of days of preparation.
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The report mentioned that at the time of sealing the property, the actor owed Rs 11 crore to the bank. The team sealed a part of the Shahjahanpur house on August 8. Locals reveal that the bank authorities hurried to seal the house and that they did not switch off the electrical items inside the house. Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Meena told the media that he had no information about the incident as the bank did not approach the local police.
"I think had we stayed and waited for last night's result we would have had to have flown here today and play [on Tuesday].
"We wouldn't get a chance to train on the surface or get used to the conditions that we have at the academy and if we had to go back we would have just got on the same plane back as New Zealand and had a day [in Lahore] before playing so this arrangement made sense to us."
India are unbeaten in nine ODIs at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (W8); a win in this match would make them just the second side to complete 10 games in the format at any ground without losing after New Zealand (P10 W10 at University Oval, Dunedin).
But Smith feels having the chance to have had a short rest, rather than travel, will be of a huge benefit to Australia.
"We had a little reset and a chance to have a couple of days here outside of a pretty strict sort of bubble in Pakistan with the security and stuff,89vip" he said.
"It's been nice to just have a couple of days to chill here.
"A couple of guys have played some golf and wandered around and done some stuff like that. So yeah, we're well prepared for [Tuesday] now and looking forward to it."
Who's making the final of #ChampionsTrophy 2025? pic.twitter.com/0Zh787YjhF
— ICC (@ICC) March 3, 2025This is the first time India and Australia will face each other in an ODI outside of India since December 2020.
Australia have won each of their last 10 completed matches in ICC ODI events, having not lost since going down to South Africa in October 2023.
However, they have won only two of their last five 50-over matches against India in such tournaments, losing the other three, including the 2023 World Cup final.
Against New Zealand, India took nine wickets via spin, and Smith believes the slower bowlers will be crucial once again.
"The game's probably won and lost how we play this spin, particularly in the middle overs, the way we get through there," he said.
"It's going to be a challenge. I think that there's going to be some spin by the looks of it, looking at the surface, and we've got to counter that. So we'll see how we do that tomorrow."
Australia spinner Adam Zampa (12) needs one more four-wicket haul in ODIs to equal Shane Warne's record of most such spells by any Australia spinner in the format (13).
Zampa's last four-wicket haul in an ODI came in Asia (4-8 vs Netherlands on 25 October 2023)kkkkjogo, but he has not managed to achieve this feat in any of his last 20 games in the format.
