New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner praised his teammates for their impressive performances in the tournament despite losing the Champions Trophy 2025 final against India.
After posting a decent score on the board, New Zealand was expected to contain India but the Indian opening batters made an aggressive start by adding more than 100 runs for the first wicket.
All of a sudden India lost three wickets within 20 overs and the middle order batters started to struggle against the Black Caps spin attack. But Indian batters with their experience of playing under pressure games won the game with an over left to bowl.
During the post match presentation, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said “It has been a good tournament. We had challenges along the way, but we have grown as a group and played some good cricket. We were beaten by a good side who turned up today. Lot of good stuff from our group, guys stepping up at different times and that’s all you can ask as a captain.
Mitchell Santner praised the Indian spinner who outsmarted New Zealand batters during the middle overs.
“(on slowing down during the middle-overs) It was good bowling. We lost a couple of wickets after the powerplay. Credit to the way their spinners bowled, all four of them, world-class. We were 25 under but we had a total, we tried to fight and that’s what we did”, he said.
New Zealand captain Santner Heap praised Glenn Phillips who made multiple impressive catches in the Champions Trophy tournament. Phillips made a total of five catches in the CT2025.
“(on Phillips’ catch) He keeps doing it doesn’t he. The powerplay was the best time to bat, Rohit and Gill cashed in, Rohit’s innings was outstanding and it put us on the back foot, but we knew the game can change quickly and we kept chipping away at the wickets and stayed in the game”, Santner added.
While concluding his speech, Santner praised Rachin Ravindra who also won the Player of the Tournament award for his all rounding performances.
“We have seen how he steps up in these major events, he has been oustanding with the ball and even GP. He understands his game at such young age and even put the pressure on India early on.
It has been enjoyable, made easier by the group and I can’t thank the boys enough. We have adjusted to different wickets, so close but it has been a great tournament”, he concluded.
Speaking of the match, New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first where Rachin Ravindra and Will Young opened the batting while Mohammed Shami opened the bowling attack.
Right after losing the toss in the Champions Trophy Final, Indian captain Rohit Sharma scripted an unwanted record by equalling Brian Lara’s record for losing the most consecutive tosses as captain in ODIs.
Most consecutive tosses lost by a captain in ODIs
- 12 Rohit Sharma (Nov 2023 – Mar 2025)*
- 12 Brian Lara (Oct 1998 – May 1999)
- 11 Peter Borren (Mar 2011 – Aug 2013)
New Zealand’s opening duo made a steady start as Indian bowlers consistently put pressure with the ball. But Rachin Ravindra in the fourth over bowled by Hardik Pandya struck a six and back-to-back boundaries and scored 16 runs off the single over.
Ravindra continued the momentum and struck another couple of boundaries off the next over by Shami. With an elevated performance from Rachin, New Zealand scored 37 runs without losing a wicket at the end of 5 overs.
Rohit Sharma introduced his trump card player Varun Chakaravarthy to bowl the sixth over but the spinner ended up leaking nine runs off the over. In the seventh over, Shami dropped Rachin while in the next over Shreyas Iyer again dropped Rachin.
But in the same over Chakaravarthy dismissed Will Young for 15 runs and broke the 57 runs stand. Right after the dismissal, Kane Williamson joined hands with Rachin Ravindra and was expected to replicate the semifinal performance.
The duo made a steady inning and leads New Zealand to score 69 runs for one wicket loss at the end of 10 overs. Post the first powerplay, Rohit introduced Kuldeep into the attack while the leggie made the expected breakthrough by dismissing Ravindra.
In his very first delivery of the inning, Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Rachin Ravindra for 37 who survived a couple of catches earlier. In his next over which was the 13th over, Kuldeep dismissed Kane Williamson for 11 loads pressure over the New Zealand’s batters.
SOFT DISMISSAL! 🎯#KuldeepYadav gets the big wicket of #KaneWilliamson, who spoons it back for an easy grab! 💥 Loud cheers, big celebrations—India on top! 🇮🇳🔥#ChampionsTrophyOnJioStar FINAL 👉 #INDvNZ | LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2 &… pic.twitter.com/U8zqp7Qu22
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 9, 2025
At the end of 15 overs, New Zealand managed to score 83 for three wickets loss while Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham stood at the crease. The duo started to build a steady partnership which pushed New Zealand to 101 runs for the same three wickets loss at the end of 20 overs.
While the duo started to build a partnership, Jadeja in the fourth delivery of the 22nd over made a strong appeal for LBW and convinced the skipper for a review, but the appeal for LBW was turned down as it missed the stumps.
But in the second delivery of the 24th over, Jadeja dismissed Tom Latham for 14 runs and broke the partnership. Latham appealed for the LBW dismissal but lost it as the review resulted in three reds. At the end of 25 overs, New Zealand scored 114 runs for four-wicket loss.
TRAPPED IN FRONT! 😍💪🏻
Indian spinners are all over the Kiwis and this time it’s #RavindraJadeja who gets an important wicket of #TomLatham! 🙌🏻#ChampionsTrophyOnJioStar FINAL 👉 #INDvNZ | LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2 & Sports18-1!
📺📱 Start… pic.twitter.com/nKmHu5zPCw
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 9, 2025
Despite maintaining a run rate under 5, New Zealand stands without losing a wicket which made them score 135 runs for four wickets loss at the end of 30 overs. Interestingly, Phillips breaks the shackles with a six in the final ball of the 27th over, boundary after 81 balls.
Indian bowlers struggled to break the partnership but maintained a decent run rate. In the fifth delivery of the 35th over, Rohit Sharma dropped Daryl Mitchell for 40 while Gill dropped Phillips for 28 in the next over from Jadeja.
Varun Chakaravarthy in the 38th over broke the well-settled partnership by dismissing Phillips for 34 runs. After losing five wickets, New Zealand scored 172 runs at the end of 40 overs.
With Daryl Mitchell’s maiden fifty of Champions Trophy 2025, New Zealand managed to score 201 runs at the end of 45 overs. With 30 balls left, New Zealand aims to score as many as boundaries possible to position themself in a comfortable zone while defending.
But in the fourth delivery of the 46th over, Shami dismissed Mitchell for 63 runs. With Michael Bracewell’s unbeaten 53, New Zealand scored 251 runs for seven wickets loss at the end of 50 overs.
Indian opening batters Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill made an impressive start while chasing. The duo added 64 runs in the first powerplay and went on to register the highest opening partnership of the Champions Trophy 2025.
During the process, Rohit Sharma registered his maiden fifty of Champions Trophy 2025 in just 41 deliveries.
While Rohit was seen as aggressive at one end, Shubman Gill executed a steady inning at the other end. At the end of 13 overs, India scored 76 without losing a wicket.
With a steady knock from Gill and Rohit, India scored 103 runs without losing a wicket at the end of 18 overs. Right after the drinks break, New Zealand bounced back as Santner broke the century stand.
In the fourth delivery of the 19th over, Santner dismissed Shubman Gill for 31 runs. In the very next over, Michael Bracewell dismissed Virat Kohli for just one run and brought New Zealand back into the game. At the end of 20 overs, India scored 108 runs for two wickets loss.
Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer who understands the condition started to build a steady partnership but New Zealand spinners started to load pressure on the Indian batting lineup.
Out of pressure, Rohit Sharma steps outside the crease to hit a maximum but ends up losing his wicket to Rachin Ravindra via stumping. With the required run rate starting to spike, Indian batters made a steady inning and managed to drag India to 136 for three wickets loss at the end of 30 overs.
Indian batters struggled to face the New Zealand bowling line as the required run rate on the other end kept spiking. While Shreyas Iyer was cemented, Santner in the fourth delivery of the 39th over dismissed Iyer for 48 and broke the partnership.
At the end of 40 overs, India managed to score 191 runs for four-wicket loss. While things were seen favouring India, Axar Patel lost his wicket to Michael Bracewell after scoring 29 runs.
Following his dismissal, Hardik and KL Rahul pushed India towards a safer zone while Jadeja in the final ball of the 49th over, struck a boundary and helped India to grab their third ICC Champions Trophy.
