At the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, March 2, India defeated New Zealand by a commanding 44 runs to end their Champions Trophy group stage undefeated. With this win, they will face Australia in their semi-final on Tuesday, March 4 at the same location.
This is the tenth time in a row that Rohit Sharma has lost the toss. They sent his side to bat first. At the end of the powerplay, India was struggling at 37/3 after a top-order breakdown. Together with Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer guided their side toward more tranquil seas. Axar left for a solid 42 in the 30th over. Before Axar left, Iyer got his 22nd half-century in ODI cricket. Iyer was dismissed with a controlled knock of 79 runs off 98 balls after falling for the short delivery.
KL Rahul nicked behind and was removed by Mitchell Santner, who claimed his first wicket of the afternoon. After a difficult start, Hardik Pandya eventually increased his strike rate. There were no boundaries from overs 42 and 44. Hardik’s 15 off Kyle Jamieson’s over in the penultimate over of the innings was the decisive moment. In his eleventh ODI game, Matt Henry took his maiden five-wicket haul against India, capping the innings with a couple of wickets in the last over.
Rachin Ravindra, the danger man, left early in the piece by slicing to Axar at deep third in response to New Zealand’s response. Will Young and Kane Williamson entered at number three in an attempt to handle the run-chase. Shortly after powerplay ended, Young left. After that, the spinners applied pressure to the Kiwis’ batting lineup. Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham, and Daryl Mitchell all started but failed to make the most of their opportunities.
Santner did everything he could to keep the contest close after Williamson was dismissed. But Varun Chakravarthy, the mystery spinner, made a brilliant bowling display that ultimately made the difference. The 33-year-old bowled brilliantly in just his second ODI of the season after replacing Harshit Rana as an experimental substitution. He completed his 10-over quota with impressive numbers of 5/42. The final person to fall was Will O’Rourke, as the Black Caps were bowled out for 205 in 45.3 overs.
Check out how X reacted to Match 12 of the Champions Trophy between India and NZ
Congratulations team India 🇮🇳 👏#INDvNZ
— Er.Sanjeeda Mewati (@sanjeeda752) March 2, 2025
TAKE A BOW, VARUN CHAKRAVARTHY. 🙇
He’s playing first Match in this Champions Trophy and he picked 5 wicket haul, his bowling figure (42/5) against New Zealand – What a Bowler.#ChampionsTrophy #INDvsNZ #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/qPdhdv3Nzi
— Aditya Tomar (@AdityaTomar_rt) March 2, 2025
Team India dominates New Zealand with a 44-run victory! 🇮🇳🔥 @ShreyasIyer15 solid 79 & Varun Chakravarthy’s magical 5/41 sealed the win! 🏏💥 What a performance! On to the next challenge! #INDvNZ #NZvIND #ChampionsTrophy #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/d0WTtROcwj
— Vikas Singh (@vishen_vikas) March 2, 2025
Job done !✅️ 🙂
Next is Australia ! 🇦🇺 #INDvNZ #INDvsNZ #NZvIND #NZvsIND #ChampionsTrophy #ChampionsTrophy2025 #varunchakravarthy pic.twitter.com/2CoLbkbyNJ— Jyoti Prakash Borah (@Jyotiprakashbrh) March 2, 2025
India won the match against New Zealand by 44 runs and will play the semi final with Australia on 4th March at Dubai stadium.#INDvNZ #NZvsIND #INDvsAUS #Semifinal
— Niteesh Pandey (@niteeshakpandey) March 2, 2025
#INDvNZ #NZvsIND https://t.co/VcwmjAsuvX
— Niteesh Pandey (@niteeshakpandey) March 2, 2025
India Vs Australia In The Semi-Final of CT 2025 on 4th March🇮🇳🔥🔥#INDvsAUS #INDvsNZ #INDvNZ #ChampionsTrophy #ChampionsTrophy2025 #varunchakravarthy #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/NcPywFAXC5
— Aditya Raj Singh (@Raj152616) March 2, 2025
In the last 10 years i have never seen a more complete Indian odi team.
Rohit and Virat may not have been in their best form but this team check all the boxes for an champion team 🔥#INDvNZ— Debjyoty Banerjee 🦁🏴🇮🇳 (@debjyoty2001) March 2, 2025
Varun on fire 🔥 #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/zwwFGjQ33Y
— Ali asgar (@Aliasgarr90) March 2, 2025
The unbeaten team India..!! 🇮🇳
– Unbeaten in CWC 2023 Group Stage.
– Unbeaten in T20I WC 2024.
– Unbeaten in CT 2025 Group Stage.#ChampionsTrophy #INDvsNZ #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/v5qyhSwVkY— Aditya Tomar (@AdityaTomar_rt) March 2, 2025
Nothing has changed . The same four teams playing the semis but it’s only the reverse oppositions#INDvNZ #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/wUj9OiDcRw
— Parag Mandpe (@ParagMandpe) March 2, 2025
2015 World Cup – India Vs Australia in the Semi Final.
2025 Champions Trophy – India Vs Australia in the Semi Final.#INDvNZ #INDvsNZ #ChampionsTrophy #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/l6rwOy6YuS
— Abhishek Sharma (@abhisharma108rs) March 2, 2025
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