India vs New Zealand Highlights: India against New Zealand in the final of an ICC limited-overs event only for the second time in the history of cricket, with the first instance dating back to more than two and a half decades back in 2000.

New Zealand won only two ICC finals on previous occasions, back in the ICC Knockout Trophy of 2000 and the ICC World Test Championship, both against the same opposition, India. India entered as the heavyweights into the final, having defeated the Kiwis in two of their ICC matches before in the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup and the group-stage match in this Champions Trophy.

The toss once again fell in favor of Kiwi skipper Mitchell Santner, as he opted to bat first, a likely decision on this slow track. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma once again faced immense trolls for creating an unwanted record of losing successive tosses.

India vs New Zealand Highlights CT Final

India vs New Zealand Highlights: Indian spinners limit Kiwis, but Bracewell’s magic gives them something to fight

New Zealand opted to bat first, and when Mohammed Shami, India’s leading wicket-taker, took the ball in his hand, nothing seemed to comfort him on the track. In form, Kiwi batter Rachin Ravindra exploited the Indian bowlers, while India remained sloppy on the field, as Shami on his own bowling and later Shreyas on Varun Chakravarthy’s ball missed chances to get the wicket of Ravindra.

However, when the Indian spinners came into the attack, the Blackcaps seemed to tremble. Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy together picked the wickets of the New Zealand top order, including the vital wicket of Kane Williamson.

The Kiwi middle order was required to be patient as India bowled 38 overs of tricky and hostile spin bowling. Spin and hostility seem ironical, but not on this occasion, as Indian spinners were brutally accurate in causing discomfort to the New Zealand batters. Kuldeep finished 2/40, Chakravarthy 2/45, Jadeja’s 1/30, and Axar Patel also played a silent role to keep the pressure building with 29 runs from his 8 overs.

Glenn Phillips built on a partnership alongside Mitchell, who played over a hundred balls for his 63. Later, Michael Bracewell scored the runs he needed to defend down the order since he batted stunningly for his quickfire 53 under pressure. It was owing to his brilliance against Shami and Pandya in the death overs that the Kiwis could hand a target of 250+.

India vs New Zealand Highlights: Confident Indian middle-order aid Skipper’s stunning innings to hand India back-to-back ICC trophies

Indian captain Rohit Sharma came to their field alongside vice-captain and arguably the future of Indian cricket, Shubman Gill. Chasing a not-so-big total, India still needed a good start, and who else is a better man on such occasions than Rohit Sharma himself?

Sharma picked out the loose deliveries and batted beautifully, setting a stunning 76 runs, which gave India the time to settle down. Despite the captain’s efforts, Shubman Gill, who never really seemed to be going, was dismissed by a stunning grab from Glenn Phillips.

Next in line, Virat Kohli fell too early on the second ball, just two balls after Gill; this brought Shreyas Iyer, who was the anchor of the Indian innings after Rohit’s dismissal. However, after the Kiwi skipper ended the vital 4th wicket partnership between Shreyas and Axar, KL Rahul, once again the finisher for India in this Champions Trophy, played a crucial hand alongside Hardik Pandya once again rising to the occasion to take India to a memorable victory in the ICC Champions Trophy.

India vs New Zealand Highlights: India is officially now the most successful team in ICC Champions Trophy history with 3 titles