INDIA Vs NEW ZEALAND , 12TH MATCH , ICC CHAMPION TROPHY 2025 : Shreyash Iyer’s Pressurized Fifty and Varun’s Fifer Clinched a Super Victory Against New Zealand For India And Sealed Semi Final Against Australia .
New Zealand fell 44 runs short of the target in Dubai on Sunday as Shreyas Iyer’s pressure-defying fifty and Varun Chakravarthy’s spin masterclass ensured India topped Group A and set up the semifinal against Australia in the Champions Trophy. India were squeezed out for an under-par 249 for nine, despite Iyer providing a pressure-soothing 79 off 98 balls, New Zealand’s media pacer Mark Henry (5/42) again tying them down. Chasing a target of 250, it was not an uphill task for New Zealand’s touch batting unit but it was India’s spin quartet spearheaded by Chakravarthy (5/42) that dismissed them for 205 in 45.3 overs. Kane Williamson’s resolute 81 came in a losing cause. India will take on Group B semifinalists Australia in the first semifinal at Dubai on Tuesday while the Kiwis will lock horns with South Africa at the other semifinal at Lahore on Wednesday. Shreyas Iyer’s Pressurized Fifty and Varun’s Fifer Clinched a Super Victory Against New Zealand For India And Sealed Semi Final Against Australia .
TOSS-
New Zealand have won the toss and opted to bowl
TEAMS LINE UP-
INDIA (PLAYING XI )-
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
NEW ZEALAND (PLAYING XI )-
Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William ORourke
INDIA-
India were 30 for 3. Incidentally, it was the last of the three of them to be there and as it turned out, the last time any team could do only 46 runs or less was down three after 15 overs, six years ago, in that famous game, in Manchester. As that time, the unity of a left-right duo provided some relief. At No.5, Axar teamed up with Shreyas Iyer to steady the ship. The partnership started incredibly sedately, going 51 balls without a boundary. As it turns out, it was basin golf stroke gone bad — at one stage Axar batted 24 balls to score five before he got a timing on a foul through Michael Bracewell for four.
That Bracewell actually did not enjoy a surface that gave him more than the ones in Pakistan generally have done, and misread his lengths. In his defence, some of that was his way of justifying his run while also making it sound like Iyer had walked out to give him a chance to step out, only to rock back and pluck the boundaries, onion tree style. Iyer started planting a few boundaries in an over from William O’Rourke as India’s score began creeping past 100 in the 25th over. Axar was able company, as he dealt with New Zealand’s spinners comfortably.
Iyer reached his half-century in 75 balls, extending his impressive run of scores against New Zealand in ODIs — six 50+ scores in eight innings. But also like the last game played here, the batters struggled to get going on the wicket and the end of the 98-run partnership was a thorn in India’s side. Axar fell 42 after edging a catch to short fine-leg.
Iyer and KL Rahul added another quick-fire partnership for the fifth wicket before missile-like execution of the short ball brought his third top edge of the day as the fielder held onto a sharp catch which made Iyer the victim of his own aggression on pulling short balls as he fell on 79. Before long, Rahul followed, deceived by a bowler who turned smartly, Mitchell Santner, the ball swooping past Rahul’s outside edge to the keeper.
India were 182 for 6 in the 40th over, and facing the prospect of failing to bat out their full quota of overs. But Hardik Pandya contributed with important 45 runs down the order and shared 41-run stand with Jadeja. That stand was also broken by Henry, with a huge slice of fortune from a flying backward point fielder, Williamson the acrobat on this occasion to send Jadeja packing. Henry took two more wickets in the last over to finish with a five-fer, but as it turned out, his effort was overshadowed on the night.
NEW ZEALAND-
Theoretically, India’s 249 was one less than the eight they had against Pakistan a week earlier at the same venue. However, the pitch retained a good deal of grip while the dew, in the second innings, didn’t come in a hurry which made India’s selection choice appear to be a good one. Rohit Sharma made slow work to introduce spin as early as in the sixth over when he brought in Axar Patel. Before that though, Hardik Pandya, this time in the second seamer role, got Rachin Ravindra with a well-directed short ball, with an excellent diving catch from Axar at third man completing the dismissal.
Varun in fact started with a very full ball and Williamson drives it down the ground for four. It was a rare length mis-step on the night for the spinner, who was in action on New Zealand’s batters soon enough with his variations. Will Young played a wrong line to him in his second over which he inside-edged onto his stumps. Enter Daryl Mitchell, who scored centuries in both the games against India in the previous World Cup and, generally, has an array of shots against spin. But here, India chained his reverse sweep with an impressively placed short third-man and didn’t allow him releases. Mitchell: struggled to work Kuldeep off the hand and was finally put out of his misery by the left-arm wrist spinner when he failed to lay bat on a leg spinner and got out LBW on his pads next to the stumps.
One aspect of it was a dominant show from Indian spinners who virtually didn’t leave the stumps on a track that turned and virtually ensured the LBW remained the mode of dismissal with as many as four middle-order batters getting trapped in front of stumps. Tom Latham was down the pitch to a Ravindra Jadeja ball he went to reverse sweep and missed while Varun dismissed Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell — though to the second, the batter would’ve survived with a review.
At the other end, it was Williamson’s turn to try and keep a lid on the chase and he was even given a hand with three dropped catches – two of which were by KL Rahul behind the stumps. Eventually, with the asking rate spiraling he aimed to go after Axar, but was deceived in the flight and was stumped for a pedestrian 120-ball 81. And with it ended New Zealand’s hopes and opened the gates up for Varun to swallow two more lower-order wickets, to complete a well-deserved five-fer.
Brief scores:
India 249 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 79, Hardik Pandya 45; Matt Henry 5-42) beat New Zealand 205 in 45.3 overs (Kane Williamson 81; Varun Chakaravarthy 5-42) by 44 runs.