Champions Trophy 2025, IND vs NZ, Group A: Varun Chakravarthy's 5 for 42 and Shreyas Iyer's 79 help India defeat a strong New Zealand side. India will now face Australia in the semi-finals.
Brief Scores: NZ vs IND, Group A, CT 2025: India 249/9 ( Shreyas Iyer 79, Hardik Pandya 45 Matt Henry 5/42) beat New Zealand 205 (Kane Williamson 81, Varun Chakravarthy 5/42, Kuldeep Yadav 2/56) by 44 runs.
While both India and New Zealand may have qualified for semi-finals, the last group game of Champions Trophy 2025 will determine the knockout fixtures. India emerged victorious in this tough scoring game by 44 runs courtesy of Varun Chakravarthy's fifer and a vital 79 from Shreyas Iter earlier in the game.
Talking Point - Rohit Sharma’s decision to play 4 spinners proved to be true
Before heading into the tournament, India skipper defended the move of picking five spinners and this game justified it. For the first time, India played four of them with the addition of Varun Chakravarthy and it proved to be effective in Dubai conditions, especially without any dew in place.
Combinedly the spin quartet of Jadeja, Chakravarthy, Kuldeep and Axar bowled about 38 overs, giving away 166 runs and picking up 9 wickets in the process.
Matt Henry’s fifer sinks India after Shreyas Iyer’s splendid knock
Batting first for the first time in the 2025 Champions Trophy, India were off to a poor start losing an in-form Shubman Gill for just 2 when he was trapped leg-before by Matt Henry. A couple of overs later, skipper Rohit Sharma miscued a pull shot and was pouched by Will Young at square leg before a blinder of a catch from Glenn Phillips at backward point got rid of Virat Kohli.
At the end of first powerplay, India had lost three wickets with just 37 on the board and it was up to the duo of Shreyas Iyer & Axar Patel to rebuild the innings. The pair played slow but steadily, bringing their 50-run stand in 85 balls and just as they began to accelerate, Axar lost his wicket on 42 runs.
A well-set Iyer tried switching gears but a short ball from Will O’Rourke got the better of him and Henry ran through India’s lower middle-order to claim a five-wicket haul. Thanks to Hardik Pandya's cameo, India set a target of 250 for the Kiwis. Read More: Shreyas Iyer in a 'zone of his own' in ODIs: The story of him owning up the no. 4 spot
Varun Chakravarthy and other spinners choke New Zealand
Chasing a total on a tricky pitch, New Zealand lost their last match centurion Rachin Ravindra early in the piece. Will Young and Kane Williamson stitched in a partnership but it was broken, courtesy of Varun Chakravarthy who struck Young’s defence.
Things slowed down for the Kiwis as the India spinners didn’t give away anything in the middle-overs. In this phase between overs 11-40, the Blackcaps scored only 121 runs losing five wickets in the process. All the four spinners from India took at least a wicket with Chakravarthy claiming a five-wicket haul as he wiped the lower-order. Only Williamson managed to stay at the crease for long as his 120-ball 81 went in vain.
Statistical Highlights from New Zealand vs India, CT 2025
India lost their first three wickets for 30 runs. This is their second-lowest tally at the fall of third wicket in Champions Trophy history. Their lowest is 28-3 against Pakistan at Birmingham in CT 2004.
Virat Kohli was dismissed by Matt Henty for the second time in ODIs. Kohli has scored 57 runs off 67 balls bowled by Henry in this format.
Kohli became the seventh India player to play 300 or more matches in ODI cricket.
The fourth wicket partnership of 98 runs between Shreyas Iyer & Axar Patel is India's second-highest for this wicket in Champions Trophy history. The highest stand (132) was accomplished by Ajay Jadeja & Sachin Tendulkar against Australia in CT 1998.
KL Rahul was dismissed for the second time in ODIs by Mitchell Santner. He has scored 49 runs off 60 balls bowled by Santner in this format.
Shreyas Iyer crossed the 500-run mark against NZ in ODIs. Among all India batters with 500+ runs against NZ in this format, Iyer has the second-best average of 70.37.
Matt Henry is the eighth bowler from New Zealand to get a fifer against India in ODIs (5-42).
Kane Williamson was dismissed for the second time by Axar Patel in ODIs.
Kane Williamson registered his 61st fifty-plus score in ODI cricket.
Varun Chakravarthy registered his first ODI fifer.
Read More: CT 2025, PAK vs IND, Group A: Kohli delivers 51st hundred; India a step closer to SF spot
What’s Next
With this win, India tops the Group A and will now face Australia in the first semi-final on March 4 at the same venue. New Zealand will head to Lahore to meet South Africa in the second SF on March 5. Top Twitter Reactions from India vs New Zealand, Champions Trophy 2025
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