India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs and won Group A of the Champions Trophy thanks to five wickets taken by Varun Chakravarthy. As a result, the losing team will play South Africa in the semifinals, while India will play Australia. Kane Williamson was the Black Caps’ best scorer of the evening, falling for 81 runs as New Zealand chased the 250-run goal against India in the last group stage match.
At the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, Mitchell Santner, the captain of New Zealand, had previously won the toss and chosen to bowl first. Even though Matt Henry took five wickets, New Zealand’s fielding was impressive, particularly the amazing catches made by Glenn Phillips (who dismissed Virat Kohli) and Kane Williamson (who sent home Ravindra Jadeja). India’s hopes were saved by Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel after the Men in Blue were reduced to 30/3 by the seventh over, suffering the heavy losses of Virat Kohli (11) and Rohit Sharma (15), as well as Shubman Gill (2). Axar added 42 and Shreyas scored 79 off 98 before they both left with a total of 172/5.
In international competitions, India has never performed well against New Zealand; the Black Caps have won ten times compared to India’s five victories. With New Zealand having won both of their tournament matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh after defeating South Africa and Pakistan in the Tri-Series prior to the Champions Trophy, the Rohit Sharma-led team will also be cautious of the Kiwis’ subcontinental form.
When the Kiwis defeated Rohit’s team 3-0 in the Test series last year, they also gave India their worst home series defeat in recent memory. The fact that Rohit and company overcame the Kiwis in the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinals the last time these two teams faced each other in a 50-over ICC tournament, however, would give India some comfort.
