In the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, India demonstrated their supremacy over Group A by defeating New Zealand in the tournament’s last league stage match. With three victories and no defeats, they now lead Group A.
India was reduced to 30/3 on the powerplay, but Shreyas Iyer (79 off 98) and Axar Patel provided some steadiness with a partnership of 98,
Suggesting that New Zealand’s choice to include India was paying off.
Iyer was dismissed shortly after attempting to give the innings momentum, and Hardik Pandya did his best to help the innings finish strong, but Matt Henry (5/42) held India to 249, which at the time was generally seen as being below average.
The innings of New Zealand’s innigs got off to a steady, if slow, start. In a collapse that saw the Kiwis lose their final six wickets for just 54 runs, India’s spinners, led by Varun Chakrvarthy (5/42) stifled the life out of New Zealand’s middle and lower orders. Kane Williamson (81 off 120) held the innings together, but none of his partners could contribute significantly.
In the tournament’s semifinals, the outcome has also guaranteed that India will play Australia in Dubai on March 4 and New Zealand will play South Africa in Lahore on March 5.
Here are the best stats from the match
300 – Virat Kohli featured in his 300th ODI and beecame the seventh player from India to do so.
10 – Dating back to 2023 World Cup final, Rohit Sharma has now lost 10 tosses in a row as captain in ODIs, while India as a team have lost 13 in a row. No other Indian captain has lost as many tosses in a row while Peter Borren (2011-13) and Brian Lara (1998-99) are the only ones to have lost more.
1 – India’s 37/3 in the powerplay was their joint-lowest total in the Champions Trophy (in matches that did not lose overs) on par with the 37/1 in the 2017 edition against South Africa.
1 – Matt Henry became the first player to take a fifer against India in the Champions Trophy.
3 – Matt Henry became the third New Zealand player to take a fifer in the Champions Trophy after Jacob Oram and Shayne O’Connor. His figures of 5/42 are the second best for his country after Oram’s 5/36 against the USA in 2004.
3 – After Ravindra Jadeja against West Indies in 2013, and Mohammed Shami against Bangladesh earlier in the tournnament, Varun Chakravarthy became the third Indian player to take a fifer in the Champions Trophy. His figures of 5/42 are the second best behind Jadeja’s 5/36
3 – After Jadeja as mentioned above and Shahid Afridi against Kenya in 2004, Varun Chakravarthy became the third spin bowler to take a fifer in the Champions Trophy. His figures are the third best in that regard.
4 – Varun Chakravarthy became the fourth bowler to take a fifer against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy after Glenn McGrath in 2002, Wayne Parnell in 2009 and Josh Hazlewood in 2017. Chakravarthy’s figures are the third best, behind Hazlewood and McGrath.
3 – After Hzalewood in 2017 and Shami earlier in this tournament, Varun Chakravarthy became the third player to take a fifer in his first Champions Trophy match with the second best figures among those three bowlers.
2,3 – Chakravarthy and Henry are now the second and third oldest players respectively to take a fifer in the Champions Trophy. Both aree 33 years old but the Indian in 107 days older. Mohammed Shami at 34 is the oldest.
1 – No Indian bowler has taken a fifer in ODIs earlier in their career than Varun Chakravarthy who achieved the feat in his second match.
5 – This match marked the fifth instance of Indian spinners collectively taking 9 wickets in a single ODI. The last had come in December 2011.
1 – The total of 249 defended by India is the lowest they have successfully defended in a Champions Trophy match that did not have reduction in overs. The previous lowest was 261 against South Africa in the semifinal of the 2002 edition.
3 – Since the Champions Trophy moved to a 2 groups of 4 teams each format for the main rounds in 2006, India in 2025 is the third instance of a team winning all 3 of their group stage matches in the tournament. The previous were by India themselves in 2013 and England in 2017. The former went on to enjoy an unbeaten run to the title while the latter were eliminated in the semifinal by eventual champions Pakistan.
India
