The Champions Trophy 2025 is in the books and it was India who lifted the trophy over New Zealand in a game that went down almost to the final over. New Zealand fought hard and book-ended their innings with good scoring but ultimately it wasn’t enough as India won with 6 balls to spare by 4 wickets. A lot was made of the lack of travel India had to make, and the staying in one venue which essentially gave them a home ground advantage. The Kiwis were without star bowler Matt Henry due to an injury suffered from the South Africa game which made the task all the more difficult.
New Zealand started out hot with Rachin Ravindra scoring very well in the powerplay overs. Then the spin came on for India and really changed the game from there. Kuldeep Yadav picked up two wickets in quick order with one being the dangerous man in form Kane Williamson. The middle overs were slow and arduous for the Blackcaps as they struggled to score runs. Daryl Mitchell did somewhat anchor the innings, scoring 63 of 101 deliveries, and Michael Bracewell came in and picked a well played half-century to bring New Zealand back into the game, posting an overall total of 251 runs. The lack of runs, especially from the 11th to 40th overs really hurt them, and perhaps should have decided to put the foot down earlier to try and wrestle back some control.
India’s innings started off with a bang, scoring runs easily as compared to how New Zealand did. It took until the 19th over but when the first wicket fell, it fell in style. Glenn Phillips pulled off an unbelievable catch at cover to dismiss Shubman Gill. Shortly after Virat Kohli is given his marching orders as he goes out for 1. The third wicket of Rohit Sharma fell a few overs later but the middle order held it together to make the chase a successful one, and though New Zealand pushed them, it wasn’t enough as India prevailed in what ended up being a rather interesting final. In the end though, it wasn’t much of a surprise.
Of course much is made about the different pitches New Zealand have played on compared to India in the tournament, and yes it has a big part to play. Obviously being able to play at the same venue for all your matches is a huge advantage, and India used it to full effect. Does it put a asterisk next to it? Probably not, but the decision to give them that sort of “home” advantage will be talked about for quite some time.
But now with the tournament over, the next major event will be the World Test Championship Final. Australia and South Africa will battle it out in a single test match at Lord’s in June to determine who will be the World Test Champions for the 23-25 cycle.