Australia have reached the cricket World Cup final with an emphatic 95-run win over reigning champions India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Australia posted a challenging target of 329 in the semifinal clash, thanks to Steven Smith's brilliant 105 and Aaron Finch's 81.
Australia recovered from a shaky start after the dismissal of explosive batsman David Warner off Umesh Yadav's delivery cheaply for 12 runs.
Man-of-the-Match Smith and Finch steadily built the innings as the duo piled up 182 runs for the second wicket, with the former hitting his first century of the World Cup.
However, India staged a stout fight back as Australia lost a string of wickets in quick succession following the dismissal of Smith.
Umesh Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for India as he captured the wickets of Warner, Smith, Finch and James Faulkner (21), while Mohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin provided the substantial support to the bowling unit.
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Skipper Michael Clarke's 10 and a couple of twenties from Shane Watson (28) and Glenn Maxwell (23), combined with Mitchell Johnson's unbeaten brisk knock of 27 runs off 7 balls helped Australia to set up the highest score in the history of World Cup semifinal history.
Chasing the target, India got off to a promising start as openers Rohit Sharma (34) and Shikhar Dhawan provided the initial thrust, and amassed 76 runs for the first wicket.
Dhawan smacked 45 off 41 balls before being caught by Maxwell off Josh Hazlewood's delivery.
Star batsman Virat Kohli batting woes continued as he was trudged back to the pavilion after being dismissed by Johnson for mere one run.
Following the dismissal of Suresh Raina (7), the batting order began to wilt under pressure as India were reeling at 104-4 in the 23rd over.
Ajinkya Rahane (44) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried to steady the ship as the duo built a resilient 70-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Rahane was caught behind by Brad Haddin off Mitchell Starc's delivery before Ravindra Jadeja got run out for 16 runs.
However, Dhoni couldn't find much support from the other end as run rate kept hovering above 15 runs per over. Dhoni was eventually dismissed for 65 runs by a stunning run-out from Maxwell.
Subsequently, tail-enders collapsed like a pack of cards and were bundled out for 233 within 47 overs.
Faulkner was the pick of the bowlers for Australia as he claimed three wickets, while Johnson and Starc scalping two wickets respectively.
With the win, Australia will meet co-hosts New Zealand in the World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday.
