Varun Chakravarthy claimed five wickets to help India defeat New Zealand by 44 runs and top Group A of the Champions Trophy. India will thus face Australia in the semi-finals while the losing team will meet South Africa. The Black Caps’ top scorer on the night was Kane Williamson, who fell for 81 runs as New Zealand chase the target of 250 in the final group stage game against India.
Earlier, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner had won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. While Matt Henry scalped five wickets, New Zealand impressed with their fielding, especially with some spectacular catching from Kane Williamsons (to send home Ravindra Jadeja) and Glenn Phillips (to dismiss Virat Kohli). Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel had salvaged India’s hopes after the Men in Blue were reduced to 30/3 by the seventh over, losing Rohit Sharma (15), Shubman Gill (2) and Virat Kohli (11) cheaply. Shreyas scored 79 off 98 while Axar chipped in with 42 before both departed with the score reading 172/5
India have always had a subpar record against New Zealand in global tournaments with the Black Caps winning 10 times as opposed to India’s 5 wins. The Rohit Sharma-led outfit will also be wary of the Kiwis subcontinent form with New Zealand having defeated Pakistan and South Africa in the Tri-Series before the Champions Trophy and then going on to win both their matches in the tournament against Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Kiwis had also handed India their worst home series loss in recent memory when they whitewashed Rohit’s men 3-0 in the Test series last year. But India will find solace in the fact that the last time these two sides met in a 50-over ICC tournament, Rohit and Co had defeated the Kiwis in the semifinals of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
