New Zealand Defended With All Their Might Against Heavy Favourites India, But Ultimately, India’s Quality And Depth Proved Too Strong, Securing Their Second Consecutive Unbeaten ICC Tournament.
They Now Hold Two Of The Four ICC Trophies, Having Finished As Runners-Up In The Other Two. In The Last Three ICC Tournaments, India Have Won 22 Of Their Last 23 Completed Matches.
Table of Contents
India’s Depth Prevails In A Spin-Dominated Final
On A Tiring Pitch, Run-Scoring Followed Familiar Patterns. Winning A Crucial Toss – After Losing Their Last 15 ODI Tosses – India Put New Zealand In To Bat. The Kiwis Raced To 69 For 1 In The Powerplay, But India’s High-Quality Spin Attack Pegged Them Back. Despite The Pitch Offering The Least Turn Of The Tournament In Dubai, India’s Spinners Bowled 38 Overs, Conceding Just 144 Runs And Claiming Five Wickets. Late In The Innings, Michael Bracewell’s Counter-Attacking 53 Off 40 Balls Gave New Zealand’s Bowlers A Competitive Target To Defend.
India Started Briskly With 64 For 0 In The Powerplay, Powered By A 105-Run Opening Stand Between Rohit Sharma And Shubman Gill. However, New Zealand, Despite Lacking Mystery Spin, Exploited The Increasing Turn – Which Rose From An Average Of 2 Degrees In The First Innings To 3.4 In The Second – To Keep The Game In The Balance. Their Spinners Bowled 35 Overs, Conceding 152 Runs And Taking Five Wickets.
Every Indian Batter, Except Virat Kohli, Got A Start – With Scores Ranging From Rohit’s 76 To Hardik Pandya’s Run-A-Ball 18 – But None Finished The Chase. Ultimately, India’s Incredible Depth Came To The Fore As KL Rahul And Ravindra Jadeja Guided Them Home With Four Wickets In Hand And An Over To Spare.
A Final Worthy Of Rescuing The Tournament
In A Tournament Lacking Close Contests, The Final Delivered A Thrilling Battle. India Entered With A Better-Suited Lineup For The Conditions, But The Toss Served As An Equaliser. Rachin Ravindra, The Tournament’s Leading Run-Scorer, Took Full Advantage Of The Best Batting Conditions Early On. Without Breaking A Sweat Or Taking A Risk, He Stunned The Crowd With A Fluent 37 Off 29.
With Pressure Mounting, India Turned To Their Strike Bowlers Rather Than Following The Usual Formula Of Bowling Axar Patel Early. Varun Deceived Will Young With Drift On A Legbreak Before A Natural Variation Trapped Him LBW. Kuldeep Yadav, With Just Five Wickets In The Tournament Until Then, Announced Himself On The Final Stage. He Dismissed Ravindra First Ball With A Wrong’un And Then Outfoxed Kane Williamson In The Air, Forcing A Return Catch.
New Zealand, Now 75 For 3, Needed Tom Latham And Daryl Mitchell To Steady The Innings. However, Mitchell Struggled For Rhythm, Leaving Latham To Take The Initiative. Against The Ever-Accurate Ravindra Jadeja – Who Bowled A Remarkable 10-0-30-1 – Any Risk Came With Consequences, And Latham Paid The Price, Falling LBW To The Metronomic Spinner.
India’s Spin Stranglehold Stifles New Zealand
For The Second Time In The Tournament, India Bowled Only Spin Through The Middle Overs. Despite The Track Being Slow With Minimal Turn, The Accuracy And Quality Of India’s Spinners Squeezed New Zealand, Making Run-Scoring A Struggle. It Took The Kiwis 21 Overs To Double Their Powerplay Score Of 69. Varun Struck Again In The 38th Over, Removing Glenn Phillips And Further Stalling Their Momentum.
Michael Bracewell Revived Hopes With A Late Flourish, Reminiscent Of Rachin Ravindra’s Fluent Strokeplay. Meanwhile, Daryl Mitchell—Who, Like Shreyas Iyer And Shubman Gill, Registered His Slowest Fifty—Finally Attempted An Assault. However, A Clever Slower Ball From Mohammed Shami Ended His Resistance. Bracewell’s Late Burst, Including Three Fours And Two Sixes, Helped New Zealand Post A Total That Seemed Merely Respectable At The Time.
Rohit’s Fiery Start Meets New Zealand’s Fightback
Even New Zealand’s Modest Total Seemed Inadequate Once Rohit Sharma Launched Into The Chase. His Sensational Strokeplay Against The Fast Bowlers, Including Nathan Smith—Who Replaced The Injured Matt Henry, The Tournament’s Leading Wicket-Taker—Forced Mitchell Santner To Introduce Spin Early In The Ninth Over. However, The Best He And Rachin Ravindra Could Do Was Slow The Scoring Briefly.
Momentum Shifted Drastically Right After The Drinks Break. Glenn Phillips, Already With Two Stunning Catches In The Tournament, Took A Spectacular One-Handed Grab At Extra Cover To Dismiss Shubman Gill. On The Very Next Delivery, Michael Bracewell Trapped Virat Kohli LBW For Just One, Suddenly Halting The Flow Of Runs.
Rohit, Who Had Slowed Down To Anchor The Innings, Seemed Poised For A Classic Big Knock. But After An Eight-Over Spell Yielding Just 19 Runs And Two Wickets, He Took A Risk Against Ravindra, Charging Down The Track For His Fourth Six—Only To Be Stumped, Handing New Zealand A Much-Needed Breakthrough.
Iyer, Axar Steady the Ship Before Rahul Seals the Deal
With India Reeling at 122 for 3, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel Rebuilt the Chase with a Crucial 61-Run Stand. Iyer, Already with Two Half-Centuries in the Tournament, Rode His Luck—Surviving a Deep Midwicket Catch from Will Young That Touched the Boundary and a Dropped Chance by Kyle Jamieson While Attempting Back-to-Back Sixes. It Was the Sixth Dropped Catch Between the Two Teams.
When Iyer Fell in the 39th Over, Caught at Short Fine Leg Off Santner, India Needed 67 from 68 Balls. The Asking Rate Never Spiraled Out of Control, Hovering Around a Run-a-Ball. Backing Their Depth, India Kept Taking Calculated Risks, Finding Timely Sixes. As the Pacers Returned, KL Rahul’s Composure Took India to the Brink.
Jamieson Provided One Final Twist, Dismissing Hardik Pandya with a Steepling Bouncer in the 48th Over. But With Ravindra Jadeja Still in the Bank, India Had More Than Enough Firepower to Finish the Job.
FAQs
How did India win their third Champions Trophy title?
India’s depth and quality proved too strong for New Zealand as their spinners controlled the middle overs, and KL Rahul, along with Ravindra Jadeja, finished the chase with four wickets in hand.
What role did Rohit Sharma play in India’s victory?
Rohit Sharma gave India a blistering start, dominating the pacers before falling for 76. His early aggression set the tone for the chase despite a mid-innings slowdown.
How did India’s spinners impact the final?
On a slow but low-turning pitch, India’s spinners bowled 38 overs, conceding just 144 runs while taking five wickets, choking New Zealand’s scoring options.
What was New Zealand’s biggest challenge in the final?
Despite Rachin Ravindra’s solid start and Michael Bracewell’s late surge, New Zealand struggled against India’s disciplined spin attack and couldn’t post a match-winning total.
Who were the key players in India’s chase?
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill set the platform, but KL Rahul’s calm approach and Ravindra Jadeja’s finishing abilities ensured India crossed the line comfortably.
