Finance
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. New Zealand will face South Africa in the second semi-final on Wednesday at Gaddafi Stadium, with both sides flying to Lahore on Monday.
After Shreyas Iyer’s 79 helped India reach 249/9 in 50 overs, Chakaravarthy surprised the Blackcaps hitters with his pace and variations, finishing with 5-42 in his ten overs on Champions Trophy debut and bowl 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 and collecting nine wickets, Rohit Sharma and his teammates won the match.
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 didn’t let them go off the hook as New Zealand made 44/1 in the first power-play. Varun Chakaravarthy, who got enough turn in his first over, got on the wickets board by having Young inside-edge a googly onto his stumps.
With India’s spinners getting lots of turn, Williamson, given a life on 32 by Chakaravarthy, and Mitchell were content in playing the waiting game while hitting boundaries occasionally in their 44-run stand for the third wicket. But Kuldeep Yadav broke the partnership as he got a googly to spin past the inside edge and trap Mitchell lbw for 17.
Williamson hanged around to get his fifty off 77 balls by tickling Jadeja through fine leg for four, and keep New Zealand alive in the chase by hitting an inside-out drive against the spinner for another boundary. But Jadeja bounced back by trapping 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 got several late boundaries in scoring 28 from 31 balls before Chakaravarthy uprooted his off-stump for a five-wicket haul in only his second ODI game, ultimately sealing the deal for India.
Previously, seamer Matt Henry stood tall yet again, earning 5-42, his third five-for in the 50-over format, as New Zealand reduced India to 249/9 in 50 overs. The Blackcaps took full advantage of the black soil pitch to hold India at bay.
Iyer saved India from a top-order collapse with a magnificent 79 and earned the companionship of Axar Patel, who scored a strong 42. With New Zealand bowling brilliantly in the back end, Hardik Pandya’s run-a-ball 45 helped India to a competitive total.
Henry and Kyle Jamieson made effective use of the conditions, asking tough questions of the Indian hitters via seam and swing, respectively. Although Rohit Sharma clobbered Henry for four and six, the seamer bounced back by trapping Shubman Gill plumb lbw with a lovely inswinger for just two.
Jamieson joined in when Rohit mistimed a pull and was caught at midwicket for 15. Virat Kohli got going with two edgy boundaries in his landmark 300th ODI, before he cut one hard off Henry and Phillips flew to his right at backward point to take a stunning catch, leaving everyone shellshocked, as the batter fell for 11.
With the ball turning a lot for New Zealand’s spinners, India went 51 balls without hitting a boundary till Axar swept off Santner in the 16th over. After that, Iyer carted William O’Rourke for three fours – two coming off pulls, while third one came as a drive over extra cover.
While Iyer continued his good run to get his 22nd ODI fifty in 75 balls, Axar took a liking to Bracewell’s off-spin by hitting him for two fours, before lofting him over extra covers for six. The 98-run stand was broken when Axar tried to pull a down leg delivery from Rachin Ravindra, but top-edge was caught by backward square leg and the batter fell for 42.
With Rahul getting off the mark by lofting Ravindra for four, Iyer got the timing right on his shots fetching him a six each off the spinner and O’Rourke respectively. But in the 37th over, the short ball caused Iyer’s downfall as he was rushed into the pull off O’Rourke and his top-edged shot was caught by short mid-wicket running backwards.
Three overs later, Rahul was out for 23 when he attempted to play a skiddy delivery from Santner away from his body but received a thick edge behind to Tom Latham. Pandya and Jadeja began the slog overs phase by hitting Bracewell for six and four, respectively, before the former drew O’Rourke for another boundary.
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.\
He slashed and lofted Jamieson for back-to-back fours before pulling the pacer over long-on for six to finish with 15 runs in the penultimate over. But Henry dismissed him and Shami in the penultimate over to complete a five-wicket haul and keep India one score short of 250, which was insufficient for the Blackcaps to defeat Rohit.
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
Source: IANS
