Despite losing the toss for the 15th consecutive time in ODIs, India controlled the game and limited New Zealand to 251 runs in the ICC Champions Trophy final of 2025. New Zealand’s innings had energetic starts and finishes with some useful cameos, but India’s strong spin bowling kept them largely in check.
Daryl Mitchell played a determined innings, scoring 63 runs off 101 balls. He absorbed the pressure from India’s four spinners and tried to counter-attack. These spinners not only brought India back into the game after New Zealand’s fast start in the powerplay but also dictated the pace of the innings on a slow pitch by consistently bowling straight.
Early on, New Zealand was aggressive thanks to Rachin Ravindra at the top of the order. The tournament’s leading run-scorer displayed his excellent form with some impressive shots against the fast bowlers. Hardik Pandya conceded 16 runs in one over, and Mohammed Shami was also hit for elegant shots, prompting Rohit Sharma to introduce spin earlier than in previous matches in the tournament.
Varun Chakaravarthy began with a googly that went for four byes, but he then created an opportunity by getting Ravindra to top-edge a slog-sweep. However, Shreyas Iyer, running in from deep midwicket, dropped the catch. Ravindra had already been dropped once earlier when Shami missed a tough return catch. Despite this, Chakaravarthy managed to break the 58-run opening partnership in the same over, trapping Will Young LBW while attempting a flick. After 10 overs, Ravindra looked dangerous, having scored 37 out of the team’s 69 runs.
Kuldeep Yadav shifted the momentum towards India with his very first delivery – a wrong’un that beat Ravindra’s attempted dab. He further tightened India’s grip in his next over by deceiving Kane Williamson in the air and taking an easy return catch. At 75/3, New Zealand had to slow down to avoid a collapse. Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell played cautiously, and boundaries became rare against the spinners. Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel maintained pressure through the middle overs, not allowing easy runs even though the pitch wasn’t offering significant turn. In this final, India’s spinners bowled more overs than in any other match in the tournament. Their collective accuracy, bowling within the line of stumps 37% of the time, meant New Zealand’s attempts to take risks were riskier than usual.
Their partnership of 33 runs off 66 balls included only one boundary before Latham was dismissed LBW by Jadeja while attempting a sweep. Mitchell, however, stuck to his plan and formed another slow 57-run partnership with Glenn Phillips for the fifth wicket. Both batsmen were dropped once each, in what was an unusually poor fielding day for India. However, Phillips couldn’t capitalize on his reprieve and was bowled by a googly from Chakaravarthy for 34.
Mitchell reached a hard-earned fifty and began to accelerate the scoring alongside an aggressive Michael Bracewell. Their 45-run partnership took New Zealand past 200, but just as they looked set for a strong finish, Mitchell spooned a catch to cover off Shami’s bowling. Bracewell kept the momentum going with some clever hitting against the pacers in the final overs. He reached his fifty in the last over and helped New Zealand cross the 250 mark, with 35 runs coming in the last three overs bowled by pace.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 251/7 (Daryl Mitchell 63, Michael Bracewell 53*; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-45, Kuldeep Yadav 2-40) vs India
