Varun Chakravarthy led India’s assault with a fantastic 5-42, the best figures by a bowler in the ongoing competition, as India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs in the final Group A encounter at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
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. Meanwhile, New Zealand will face South Africa in the second semi-final on Wednesday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Following Shreyas Iyer’s 79, which helped India reach 249/9 in 50 overs, Chakaravarthy tricked the Blackcaps batters with his pace and variations, finishing with 5-42 in ten overs on Champions Trophy debut and bowling them out for 205 in 45.3 overs.
Kane Williamson led New Zealand’s charge with 81 off 120 balls on a tough field, relying on nudges, glances, and inside-out shots for boundaries. However, with the Indian spin foursome applying the squeeze in the middle overs, Rohit Sharma and his team maintained their unblemished record in the competition.
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. However, four balls later, Pandya gave the early breakthrough as Rachin Ravindra upper-cut to deep third, where Axar Patel 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 found enough turn in his opening over, scored 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 hung around to get his fifty off 77 balls, teasing Jadeja through fine leg for four, and kept New Zealand in the chase with an inside-out drive against the spinner for another boundary. But Jadeja responded by catching a reverse-sweeping Tom Latham lbw for 14.
Jadeja could have run Williamson out on 68 if KL Rahul had taken the opportunity. However, Chakaravarthy struck twice in his two overs, trapping Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell lbw, but replays revealed that the latter would not have been out since the ball missed the stumps.
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 scored several late boundaries in scoring 28 off 31 balls before his off-stump was uprooted by Chakaravarthy, who took five wickets and basically sealed the deal for India.
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