India vs New Zealand: Champions Trophy 2025 Final Highlights

India faced New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where New Zealand set a competitive target of 251/7 in 50 overs. The match began with New Zealand’s captain, Mitchell Santner, winning the toss and choosing to bat first. This marked the 12th consecutive toss loss for India’s captain, Rohit Sharma.

Michael Bracewell and Daryl Mitchell played significant innings, both scoring fifties, to lead New Zealand to a respectable total. Daryl Mitchell reached his half-century off 91 balls. During the innings, Mitchell Santner was run out by a precise throw from Virat Kohli, leaving New Zealand at 239/7.

The Indian bowling attack was led by Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, who picked up two wickets each. Mohammed Shami, despite taking a wicket, had a challenging outing as he conceded 74 runs, making it the second-highest runs given by an Indian bowler in a Champions Trophy match. Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in with a wicket. An unfortunate incident for New Zealand was the injury of Matt Henry, who was replaced by Nathan Smith.

Heading into the second innings, India required 252 runs to claim the title. Despite the cloudy skies at the start of the match, India was confident, holding a 90% winning record at the venue. The final marked India’s fourth consecutive appearance in an ICC tournament final under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Moreover, it was a special match for Virat Kohli, who became the second Indian player to participate in 550 international matches.

Historically, India and New Zealand have faced off in 12 ICC tournament games, each team winning six matches. However, New Zealand has emerged victorious in finals against India in 2000 and 2021.

With praise for his senior teammates, Shubman Gill acknowledged Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as one-day cricket greats. Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also dismissed retirement talks for Rohit Sharma, citing his recent success in leading the team to consecutive finals.

As the anticipation for the run chase grew, the pressure was on India to claim the title, reversing past final losses against New Zealand and strengthening their dominance in Dubai.