India beats New Zealand by 44 runs in ICC Champions Trophy match

DUBAI: India ended their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 group stage campaign in style, defeating New Zealand by 44 runs at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday to take the top spot.

With a clinical performance, the Men in Blue extended their unbeaten streak, and advanced to the semi-finals with momentum on their side.

Chasing a modest target of 250, New Zealand’s batting unit was bundled out for 205 despite Kane Williamson’s half-century.

The veteran batsman fought a lone battle against India’s spin-laden bowling attack with 81 off 120 balls, which included seven fours.

Skipper Mitchell Santner (28) and opening batsman Will Young (22) were the other notable run-scorers for the Black Caps, while the rest fell cheaply.

Chakraborty was the best bowler for India, taking five wickets for just 42 runs in his 10 overs, followed by Kuldeep Yadav who took two wickets.

Earlier, New Zealand restricted India to 249 with the help of Matt Henry’s five-wicket haul.

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner’s decision to bowl first paid dividends as his bowling unit dominated a strong Indian batting unit and restricted them to 249/9 in the allotted 50 overs.

The 2013 champions got off to a shaky start to their innings as Kyle Jamieson and Henry reduced their top order – Shubman Gill (two), Rohit Sharma (15) and Virat Kohli (11) – to 30/3 in 6.4 overs.

After the initial defeat, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel joined forces to start the recovery as they added a crucial 98 runs for the fourth wicket until he fell to Rachan Ravindra in the 30th over.

Patel scored 42 runs off 61 balls with the help of three fours and a six.

Iyer was then involved in a brief partnership of 44 runs for the fifth wicket with KL Rahul before Will O’Rourke brought the curtains down on his brilliant innings.

He was the top scorer for India with 79 runs off 98 balls, which included four fours and two sixes.

After his dismissal, India lost two more wickets in quick succession and, as a result, slipped to 223/7 in 45.5 overs.

But, a quick 45-run cameo from Hardik Pandya took India to a competitive total down the order.

Matt Henry led the bowling charge for New Zealand with 5/42 in his eight overs, while Kyle Jamieson, O’Rourke, Mitchell Santner and Ravindra took a scalp each.