DUBAI: Mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy’s five-wicket haul powered India to a victory against New Zealand by 44 runs in the 12th match of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
With this victory, India claimed the top position in Group A, confirming the semi-finalist teams for the Champions Trophy.
In their pursuit of a target of 250 on a slow-paced pitch in Dubai, New Zealand was bowled out for 205, largely due to superb bowling from the Indian spinners.
Kane Williamson was the top scorer for the Black Caps with a determined innings of 81 off 120 deliveries, laced with seven effortless fours.
New Zealand’s chase started poorly, with Rachin Ravindra, the centurion from the previous match, getting out early for just 6 runs.
Following this early setback, Kane Williamson partnered with Will Young to stabilize the innings, and the duo put together a 32-run partnership before Chakaravarthy bowled out Young.
India bowlers consistently applied pressure on New Zealand, taking wickets at regular intervals, which severely hindered their progress.
Despite this, Kane Williamson fought hard, remaining at the crease until he was dismissed in the 41st over.
Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand skipper, also made a notable contribution, scoring 28 runs off 31 balls, including two sixes and one four, but he couldn’t help his team cross the finishing line against disciplined bowling of India.
For India, Varun Chakaravarthy was the star of the show with his five-wicket haul, while Kuldeep Yadav provided strong support, taking two wickets.
Earlier, Matt Henry took five wickets restricting India to 249-9 in their allocated 50 overs.
After choosing to bowl, New Zealand effectively limited Team India strong batting lineup to 249 runs for 9 wickets in their 50 overs with excellent bowling and outstanding fielding.
India’s top three were removed inside powerplay. Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson dismissed Rohit Sharma(15) and Shubman Gill (2).
Virat Kohli (11), playing in his 300th One-Day International, was caught by Glenn Phillips, who took a stunning catch to dismiss the stalwart.
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India were 30-3 when Axar Patel joined Shreyas Iyer at the crease. Both players forged a vital 98-run stand to take their team to 128 in 29.2 overs. Patel was caught off Rachin Ravindra’s bowling.
His 42 off 61 deliveries featured three fours and one six. Following Axar’s wicket, KL Rahul joined Shreyas Iyer and added another 44-run partnership.
Iyer’s well-crafted knock of 79 ended courtesy of Will O’Rourke bowling.
He remained the top-scorer for India with a 98-ball 79, comprised of four fours and two sixes.
Following his dismissal, India fell to 223/7 in 45.5 overs after losing two additional wickets in rapid succession.
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Nevertheless, Hardik Pandya’s quick innings of 45 runs at the end strengthened India’s total.
For New Zealand, Matt Henry was the top bowler claiming 5 wickets for 42 runs in eight overs, while Kyle Jamieson, O’Rourke, Mitchell Santner, and Ravindra each took one wicket.
Playing XIs
New Zealand: Rachin Ravindra, Will Young, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will O’Rourke
India:Â Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
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