Varun Chakravarthy with his five-wicket haul clinched victory for India in their last group match of Champions Trophy 2025 played against New Zealand in Dubai.
India was scheduled to face New Zealand to play the final group match of the Champions Trophy 2025 on March 3 in Dubai. Both teams have qualified for the knockout stage and also remained unbeaten in the group stage.
The 12th match of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 was scheduled to be played between Mitchell Santner-led New Zealand and Rohit Sharma-led India on March 2 in Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.
New Zealand and India have played 118 ODIs so far with India having an edge over New Zealand. India won 60 matches while New Zealand won 50 ODIs with seven matches ended no result.
India executed an impressive performance in both batting and bowling innings. Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Hardk executed an impressive performance with bat while Varun Chakravarthy with his five wickets haul bagged an easy victory for India.
Notably, Varun Chakaravarthy has picked a five-fer in his second ODI – the earliest by an Indian bowler in his ODI career. The previous earliest was Stuart Binny who picked 6/4 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2014 in his third ODI. This is the first instance of two five-wicket hauls in the same Champions Trophy game.
Speaking of the match, New Zealand won the toss and opted to field first. Indian captain Rohit Sharma scripts an unwanted record after losing his 10th consecutive ODI toss.
Indian opening batters Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill opened the inning and were expected to lay a strong foundation. But Matt Hendry in the third over, trapped Gill in an LBW dismissal and sent him for just two.
Following his dismissal, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli joined hands and faced the aggressive bowling attack from the Kiwis. Soon Indian captain Rohit Sharma too departs after scoring 15 off 17 balls. Jamieson dismissed Rohit for 15 in the first ball of the sixth over.
In the very next over, Matt Henry dismissed Virat Kohli for 11 runs and loaded pressure on the Indian batters. At the end of seven overs, India scored 30 runs for three wickets.
Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel are under pressure to build a partnership to revive India from ending up scoring low. At the end of 10 overs, India scored 37 runs for three wickets.
After losing three wickets, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel added 98 runs for the fourth wicket. Rachin Ravindra broke the well-settled partnership by dismissing Axar for 42 runs. Following Axar Patel’s dismissal, KL Rahul and Iyer added 44 runs for the next wicket.
William ORourke dismissed Shreyas for 79 and added pressure on the Indian batting lineup. With Hardik Pandya’s 45 runs off 45 deliveries, India managed to score 249 runs after losing nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
While chasing, New Zealand made a struggling start as they lost their opening batter Rachin Ravindra for just six. Hardik Pandya opened the account for India by dismissing dangerous Rachin for 6 runs in the final delivery of the fourth over.
Following the dismissal, New Zealand moved the inning with a steady strike rate and managed to score 44 runs for 1 wicket at the end of 10 overs. Varun Chakravarthy in the 12th over dismissed Will Young for 22 and made the second breakthrough.
After losing a couple of wickets at an early stage of the game, Kane Williamson made a steady inning and slowly pushed New Zealand towards the glory.
Though Williamson made a steady inning at one end, his fellow teammates struggled to face the Indian bowlers and lost their wickets at regular intervals. New Zealand batters struggled to build a partnership in the 250-run target game.
New Zealand’s hope of winning the game scattered right after Axar Patel dismissed Kane Williamson for 81 in the final delivery of the 41st over. Without much contribution from the lower order batters, New Zealand fell 44 runs short after losing all their ten wickets in 45.3 overs.
🎯 𝐍𝐨 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐧’𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐛! 🕸️🔥
Santner had no clue as Varun’s cross-seam rocket crashes into the stumps! 4️⃣ and counting! 💥😎#ChampionsTrophyOnJioStar 👉 #INDvNZ | LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2 & Sports18-1!
📺📱… pic.twitter.com/3Lf3L3EXdf
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 2, 2025
India will face Australia in semi-final 1 set to be played on March 4 in Dubai while New Zealand will face South Africa to play semi-final 2 on March 5 in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
