Varun Chakravarthy led India’s assault with a magnificent 5/42, the highest bowling stats in the competition, as India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs in the final Group A match on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.

With the win, India finishes first in Group A and will meet Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday, a rematch of the 2023 ODI World Cup final. New Zealand will face South Africa in the second semi-final on Wednesday at Gaddafi Stadium, with both sides flying to Lahore on Monday.

Following Shreyas Iyer’s 79, which helped India reach 249/9 in 50 overs, Chakaravarthy tricked the Blackcaps batters with his pace and variety, finishing with 5-42 in his 10 overs on Champions Trophy debut and bowling them out for 205 in 45.3.

Kane Williamson led the way for New Zealand with 81 off 120 balls on a tough field, relying on nudges, glances, and inside-out drives for boundaries. However, the Indian spin foursome applied the squeeze in the middle overs and took nine wickets, resulting in a win for the Rohit Sharma Team.

India could have taken their first wicket in the fourth over if Chakaravarthy hadn’t dropped Will Young’s catch at mid-on off Hardik Pandya’s bowling, resulting in the fielder booting the ball off his boot for four. But four balls later, Pandya gave the early breakthrough when Rachin Ravindra upper-cut to deep third, where he made a low diving catch.

Though Young and Williamson hit some tight boundaries, India did not let them off the hook, as New Zealand scored 44/1 on the first power play. Varun Chakaravarthy, who got enough turn in his opening over, took a wicket when Young inside-edged a googly into his stumps.

With India’s spinners getting plenty of turn, Williamson, given a life on 32 by Chakaravarthy, and Mitchell were prepared to wait while sometimes hitting boundaries in their 44-run third-wicket stand. But Kuldeep Yadav ended the partnership with a googly that spun past the inside edge and trapped Mitchell lbw for 17.

Williamson danced down the pitch to knock Axar over mid-on, but missed the delivery and was easily stumped by Rahul for a tough 81 off 120 balls, sealing the game’s outcome. Mitchell Santner hit some late boundaries in scoring 28 off 31 balls before his off-stump was uprooted by Chakaravarthy, who took five wickets in only his second ODI game.

Hardik stayed tall and fired a forehand-like shot for four off Henry, who subsequently had Jadeja slice to backward point and make a one-handed diving catch. New Zealand’s lengths were dead on, and they kept Hardik quiet until the all-rounder cut loose in the 49th over.

 

Brief Scores:
India 249/9 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 79, Hardik Pandya 45; Matt Henry 5-42) beat
New Zealand 205 in 45.3 overs (Kane Williamson 81, Mitchell Santner 28; Varun Chakaravarthy 5-42, Kuldeep Yadav 2-56) by 44 runs