New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first as they face unbeaten India in the Champions Trophy final in Dubai today (Sunday).
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Overs 41-50; 252
New Zealand kept the scoreboard ticking by rotating the strike, maintaining a run rate of around 4.6.
Daryl Mitchell reached his half-century in 91 deliveries—the slowest fifty of his career—but struggled to accelerate before falling to Mohammad Shami, who claimed his first wicket of the innings.
Michael Bracewell played an aggressive cameo, scoring a quickfire 53 off 40 balls, helping the Kiwis post 251 for 7 in 50 overs.
Kiwi skipper Santner was run out on the last delivery of the 49th over, trying to sneak in a double on a ball that went straight to Kohli at mid wicket. Excellent effort in the deep by the Indian great.
A below-par total, it seems. The Kiwis will need to bowl with precision if they hope to trouble India’s star-studded batting lineup in the chase.
Overs 31-40; 172-5
Mitchell and Phillips stabilised the innings; however, the run rate fell for the Black Caps.
Sharma continued with spin on both ends as pressure piled up on the Kiwis to up the ante against the Indian attack.
Chakravarthy dismissed Phillips in the 37th over after the Kiwi batter failed to read the googly. Phillips went for a cut but ended up missing the ball completely, which ended crashing into his stumps.
Bracewell came out to bat for the Kiwis as they searched for stability with the innings moving into the death overs.
The Kiwi total reached 172 for the loss of five wickets after 40 overs.
Overs 21-30; 135-4
Ranvindra Jadeja got into the act as he dismissed Tom Latham in his third over, trapping the Kiwi batter in front of the wicket. He went for a sweep and missed it completely as the ball crashed into his pads.
The off spinner had trapped Latham in the previous over as well’ however, the ball was missing the stumps by a margin.
Both sides lose a review as we move towards deeper waters.
Phillips joined Mitchell to build on the New Zealand innings as runs became scarce for the Kiwi side. Phillips dispatched Kuldeep for a huge six behind the bowler’s head after 81 balls without a boundary. The score kept ticking for the Kiwis as they reached 135 for the loss of four wickets after 30 overs.
India continue to remain on top as four circulating spinners give no space to the Kiwi batters.
Overs 11-20; 101-3
Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Ravindra on the first ball of his spell in the final, as the left-handed batter got stuck, and the ball crashed into the stumps.
Veteran Kane Williamson came out to bat next but was dismissed by Yadav as he spooned the ball in the air for an easy catch for the leg spinner.
The Kiwis then tried stabilising the innings with two new batters at the crease, Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell. Indian skipper Sharma kept spin from both ends to pile pressure onto the Kiwi batter as runs started to dry up for the Black Caps.
India playing with four conventional spinners would be useful for the side on the Dubai International Stadium’s spinning pitch.
Latham and Mitchell are on the crease with the Kiwi score at 101 for three after the loss of 3 wickets.
Overs 1-10; 69-1
The Kiwis — after choosing to bat — started the innings with a flier as the openers looked to set a high target for the Indian side.
New Zealand only lost one wicket in the powerplay after Varun Chakravarthy trapped Will Young in front of the stumps for a leg before wicket, a leg spin that did not spin and went straight on.
Rachin Ravindra, on the other end, smashed four fours and a six as he collected 37 runs. New Zealand legend Kane Williamson came out to bat to build on the great start by the Kiwis.
New Zealand’s score reached 69 for the loss of one wicket after 10 overs.
India, who refused to play in host nation Pakistan, have produced clinical performances to win all four of their matches in the United Arab Emirates, including a 44-run group-stage victory over the Black Caps last weekend — although both teams had already reached the semi-finals by then.
India are heavy favourites to claim a record third Champions Trophy but Rohit Sharma’s men face a New Zealand side with plenty of firepower in the first major white-ball final between the teams in a quarter of a century.
The Men in Blue are on the verge of winning back-to-back International Cricket Council (ICC) trophies following last year’s T20 World Cup triumph but they have always found the resilient Kiwis a tall mountain to surmount.
New Zealand hold a 10-6 lead over their Asian rivals across all the ICC tournaments and if curated further, they have a 3-1 edge over India in the knockout matches.
However, the Black Caps’ pace spearhead Matt Henry has been ruled out of the final due to an injury, the ICC said in a statement today.
India have played all their matches in Dubai after they refused to tour hosts Pakistan.
The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.
Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of the Dubai stadium.
“I think we have to kind of go in with an open mind of how the pitch will play, and then adjust accordingly,” New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner told reporters yesterday.
Despite their flawless displays in Dubai, India will not take anything for granted against New Zealand, who beat them by four wickets in the final of the 2000 event when it was named the ICC KnockOut Trophy.
Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, the right-hand and left-hand wrist-spinners, have bamboozled the opponents with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel tying down the batters in a matrix of accuracy and boredom.
New Zealand’s biggest hopes of countering them will be Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra, the most competent batters against slow bowlers in their line-up.
New Zealand’s capable spin unit comprising captain Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips and Ravindra can cause plenty of problems for India, who will aim to move ahead of Australia in the Champions Trophy winners list. Australia won the event in 2006 and 2009.
New Zealand beat India 3-0 in a Test series in their own backyard, a feat never registered before. India went on to lose in Australia. Both series defeats cost India a spot in the World Test Championship final.
Nearly 25 years ago, Chris Cairns’ well-timed century in Nairobi powered New Zealand past India to win the Knock Out Trophy, which remains the only limited-overs ICC trophy in New Zealand’s cabinet.
The Black Caps did add another in 2021 — beating India in the World Test Championship final at Southampton. In between, India were stopped in their tracks at the semi-final stage of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, losing a two-day rain-affected semifinal to New Zealand at Manchester.
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Jacob Duffy.
More to follow
