India vs New Zealand, Champions Trophy Final 2025: Match Highlights & Key Moments

Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar dancing after India won the Champions Trophy

Virat Kohli apparently touches the feet of Mohd Shami’s mother and then poses with the family for a photograph.

virat touching mohammed shami’s mother feet ???? pic.twitter.com/FxvGDZGP4R

— Bewda babloo ? (@babloobhaiya3) March 9, 2025

India captain Rohit Sharma cleared the air on his rumoured retirement plans by telling journalists at the post-match press conference that he has no plans to retire.

“One more thing: I’m not going to retire from this format. Just to make sure that no rumours are spread moving forward,” Rohit Sharma said at the end of the press conference on Sunday after he had guided India to its third Champions Trophy title. Thanks to a 76 from him at the top of the innings, India chased down New Zealand’s 252-run target with an over to spare and four wickets in hand.

Here’s what else Rohit Sharma said after helping India win the Champions Trophy

I’m not going to retire. Just to clear rumours

To win tournaments collective effort is needed. Of course individual performance will come in one or two games. But here everyone contributed.

When everyone does that there comes consistency and they played their roles to perfection.

Wickets were challenging so a collective effort is necessary

On KL: when we discussed about his batting position we spoke about his calmness. Pressure doesn’t get to him and his calmness was needed in the middle. It also meant we got a left hander at No 5. He has been playing challenging roles for us like today where it can get really tough. But he keeps the dressing room calm

On his knock: I didn’t do anything different

Did the same thing today. wanted to score in powerplay and once the field spreads out it becomes difficult. So you have to take chances at the top. I pick the bowlers and the spots to hit. You may not see consistency in terms of scores, but I know what I’m doing. I changed my game after 10 overs. But when the team wins you feel happy. In 2019 World Cup I had a good run but we didn’t win the title. It didn’t make me happy

On the team: someone was telling me we lost just 1 game in last three ICC events. It is a great milestone to have. Yes we didn’t win the World Cup. But we won T20 and this. It shows the quality of the side. We want to enjoy our ride.

Future plans will come in future. No plans

We didn’t win World Cup but this is no less

We are not bothered about the noise from outsider. We keep it relaxed. We enjoy our training sessions. Results may go up and down, but we have been putting the same message across.

How to keep hunger growing: they are matured and want to make the most of their time with the team. My job is to ensure whoever gets to play gets the job done. Even ones who have played lot of games have the hunger an it rubs on the players. We have stalwarts and young players look at them.

Here’s what India captain Rohit Sharma had to say at the post-match ceremony: 

“We played some really good cricket throughout the tournament, and to come out with the result in our favour is a great feeling. I’m very happy with how we played this game. It’s not natural to me (batting aggressively in the last two ICC ODI events) but it’s something I wanted to do. When you’re trying something different, you need the team’s and management’s backing, which I had. During the ODI World Cup, I spoke to Rahul hhai about it, and he was supportive, as is Gauti bhai now. It’s about getting that backing from the team and management. It’s something I wanted to do.

Having played here a few times, I understand the nature of the pitch and its behavior with the new ball. Using my feet is something I’ve done for a long time. It’s about being clear in your mind, and I was clear on executing that in the first five or six overs. I’ve gotten out doing that as well. The results won’t always be consistent, but it’s fine as long as it serves the team’s purpose. Having the batting depth makes it much easier and gives me freedom. That’s why we wanted to have batting depth as much as possible. With eight batsmen and Jadeja coming in at eight, it gives you confidence to take risks upfront with the new ball. As long as I’m clear in my mind, that’s the most important thing.”

Tushar Bhaduri writes:

After going a decade without a major ICC trophy, India has now gone three tournaments losing just one game. After going for years being maligned for faltering in big games, India has of late truly become a big-game outfit. The defeat in the 2023 50-over World Cup, painful as it was for the team and the players involved, seems to have spurred something in them as they haven’t lost a match in an ICC event since then. Not even losing all five tosses in the tournament could prevent their utter dominance, as India always found someone for every occasion. Judging by the swagger with which Hardik Pandya went about dealing with a potentially tricky situation, when the team is on a long winning streak, they don’t even countenance the possibility that they could lose. India is prevailing not just in ICC boardrooms and stands, but now also on the field.

Ravindra Jadeja finishes the game with a boundary. There it is it did seem like it was not possible in the middle the way New Zealand pulled back things however, the Men in Blue kept their calm and have won the trophy after 12 years. Congratulations to team India and Rohit Sharma who has won their second ICC trophy in the space of an year.

Hardik Pandya departs. It was a short ball from Kyle Jamieson which the batter tried to pull got the top edge and the bowler himself took a simple catch. India is almost there but is there twist in the tale? Ravindra Jadeja has come in he is an experienced campaigner in these situations and has done at national and franchise level time and again.

India need 12 from 18 here. It is the Rachin’s over which Hardik smacked for a couple of sixes which essentially killed this game off. It seems fair to say now Rohit will cap second ICC trophy in a matter of year here. While there may be questions about the travel part but they have played some exceptional cricket along the way.

We kind of expect that from Glenn.” That was New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner reaction in the post-match presentation when he was asked about Glenn Phillips’ ability to take sensational catches on the cricket field. That sure maybe the case, but every time he pulled off a stunner during the ICC Champions Trophy, Phillips made jaws drop, even though it’s become habitual for him.  (Read more)

New Zealand has turned to seamers here, and this is where this game might be decided. The run rate required is still about six; however, if India loses a wicket it won’t be easy for the new batter to come in and start all over again. Hence the two batters in the middle have to finish it off here for India. We are in for cracking finish folks don’t go anywhere.

Mitchell Santner has played it quite well today. To be fair to New Zealand they have played a good game in the last one as well but it was Varun Chakarvarthy who changed the game that day. Varun did bowl well today too however, both the teams just seem to be more in equal today compared to the last game.

Axar Patel has fallen here. The batter tried to play inside out and was caught at the boundary by Kyle Jamieson. It is quite difficult to understand the reasoning of that shot at this point. Apart from maybe Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli most of the other batters have gotten out trying to play unnecessary shot. The good thing for India is they have Hardik Pandya in the middle who has played a similar knock against Australia in semifinal not long ago.

India has bowled a lot of pace in the last overs, which did help Michael Bracewell to score a quickfire knock and India needs something similar. KL Rahul has walked into the middle who has the ability to pull of a similar innings out in the middle. But he can execute those finishing innings under the pressure of the final will be interesting to see.

Shreyas Iyer has fallen here. He tried to play a half-hearted sweep on the leg-side and the ball got the top edge and carried to fine-leg Rachin India has lost now the fourth wicket this chase is getting extremely tricky now for India. They need someone with calm cool nerves to finish this off.

Kyle Jamieson has dropped a sitter of Shreyas Iyer here, and it might be a crucial point in this game. Iyer did hit a six and was looking to break the shackles as the run rate was piling on, but that dropped chance might be a huge letaway for India here in the chase. They have committed quite a few fielding errors here did the New Zealanad today.

The runrate has gone over six for the first time in this chase for India. This is where things can get quite tricky against the soft ball with Mitchell Santner coming back into the attack. India need a couple of big overs here just to pull back things a bit and also even if they lose a wicket the batter coming next does have just enough time to get used to the pace of the wicket.

Tushar Bhaduri writes: The way the Indian chase started, it seemed as the result was a foregone conclusion. The flurry of early boundaries, mostly from Rohit Sharma’s bat, prompted frenzy and excitement in the stands. It appeared to be a question of how quickly, and not if, India would get to the target. There was speculation over whether the skipper would get to a hundred in the final. Even when Virat Kohli came to the middle after Shubman Gill’s dismissal, with the total already past 100, some wondered whether there was an opportunity for him to get a ton as well. But it doesn’t take much for the mood to change in a game of cricket. Three relatively quick wickets induced tension in the proceedings and the anxiety among the India supporters could be ascertained from the fact that they were now cheering singles walked by Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel, as the Kiwi spinners and fielders made them earn every run.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan writes: Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that’ll never stop… goes the lyric of a song in Encanto. In India’s case, it went like dot, dot, dot… and more dots. In the 25th over, Rachin Ravindra conceded a single off the first ball. That was followed by five dots as Rohit struggled to put him away, one attempted sweep in that over nearly squeezed through for a LBW. It was the first sign of Rohit not being in a comfortable space. In the next over, Shreyas Iyer nearly lobbed one back to Michael Bracewell as the ball stopped on him. It was a maiden over. 11 straight dot balls. At the start of the 27th over NZ reaped the reward. Rohit danced down against Rachin and was well beaten by the length, the ball turning past him and the Indian captain was stumped. 12th straight dot, and set batter gone. That was followed by 7 more dots… and nearly another wicket as Shreyas Iyer tried to break the shackles. He was nearly caught at deep midwicket, but it ended up being a six despite Will Young’s super effort.

Pritish Raj writes: A chase that was placed well and going at brisk pace was halted and it was halted by a flying beauty from none other than the superman Glenn Phillips.
As Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill moved along swiftly in the chase against New Zealand, they needed something special and Glenn Phillips did exactly that. He plucked a catch out of thin air, from behind his head, to dismiss Gill off Mitchell Santner.
It was a flighted ball which was drilled towards cover by Gill but Glenn Phillips’ jump in the air and came as divine intervention. His reaction time was 0.78 seconds.
The catch was a photographer’s delight, an acrobat’s arch as  Phillips was like a silk ribbon caught in breeze, absolutely fluid. The 28-year-old has made it a habit now. Displaying acrobatic skills on the field, day in and day out.
Be it the catch of Rizwan in the opening game of the tournament or the catch to dismiss Virat Kohli in the group game, he glides and flows on the field much like a paintbrush painting a picture.
If Kohli’s catch was from another world, it looked like he plucked Gill’s catch from another realm.
His celebration was pretty down-to-earth though: crossing his hands and feet, while still sitting on the ground, and a happy smile pasted on his face. Not smug. Just content.

The way India is batting in the middle for the last 15 minutes or so, it seems like they are feeling the pressure of the final. However, the positive thing is they have had a good start while it is tricky phase what the start will do now is allow them to take a bit of time in the middle however, how long will these two would resist the temptation to go after the bowling will be interesting to see.

Rohit Sharma has fallen here. He charged down the track to take on Rachin and got stumped by Latham. It was wrong time to lose a wicket. He did his job did Rohit as an opener but should have batted more sensibly under the circumstances. Axar Patel has walked into the middle who is come in to maintain the left-hand right-hand combination.

Rohit has slowed down here. He was batting quite fluently, however, since the double strike, his strike rate has slowed down quite significantly. Shreyas Iyer, who did start well early on too seems to now be more into building the partnership and taking this game as deep as possible. New Zealand are going through a nice passage of play here.

New Zealand has tightened the grip in the chase here. They were batting quite sublemily where the Indians however, things turned changed quite quickly since water break. It is an inspirational fight back from India, but they need to keep picking wickets. That is the only way they can stop India from getting these runs as they bat quite deep, do the Indians.

India has lost two quick wickets here first it was Shubman Gill who tried to hit one over the covers, and Glenn Phillips pulls of one of his cracking catches and then it was Virat Kohli who was trapped in front of the wicket and was plumb. He did review the decision however, there were three reds on the replay. India has now lost three wickets in four balls. It will be fascinating to see how Rohit Sharma will bat from here on. The run rate is not the criterion, but with two quick wickets, India needs to build a partnership here. Shreyas Iyer has walked into the middle.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan writes: It is not often you see Shubman Gill bat out the entire first powerplay and not score a boundary. With the Rohit Sharma Show well and truly on in Dubai, Gill could afford to take his time, the best seat in the house being the non-striker’s end. At the end of the first 10 overs, Rohit had hit five fours and three sixes in the 40 balls he had taken strike for. Gill on the other hand was on 10 off 20 balls. But when Gill decided to take charge, the wait was worth it, because it was arguably the cleanest strike of the day. He saw one flighted by Rachin Ravindra, decided to give the charge, and despite New Zealand having a fielder at long on in place, cleared the fence with effortless ease. The first of many straight, sweetly-timed sixes with the new MRF bat – one that has a special place in Indian cricket – that he started playing with from the semifinals, one imagines.

Pritish Raj writes: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has embraced a style of playing with attacking intent irrespective of the situation.
Staying true to his moniker ‘Hitman’, Rohit came all guns blazing in the chase with a six on the second ball as he pulled Kyle Jamieson to the backward of square leg. He continued with the blitzkrieg as he hit two fours to William O’Rourke in the next over.

Rohit took a liking for Nathan Smith, replacement of Matt Henry, scoring two sixes and two fours against him in the powerplay.
The first six against Smith in the 6th over when Rohit charged down, flew 92m, his immaculate ability of hitting sixes on display.

Charging down to the pacers has been one of the regular weapons in Rohit’s arsenal of attacking cricket. Since January 2022, Rohit has scored 119 runs charging down the track to the pacers in just 39 balls with a gigantic strike rate of 305. While attempting the shot, he has got out just thrice showing the perfect execution from him. India scored 64/0 in the ten overs of the first powerplay. Sharma reached his 50 in just 41 balls just after the powerplay ended.

Rohit Sharma is batting superbly here in the middle. He has taken all the pressure of this chase early on, and India is in the driving seat in this game. The onus is now on Mitchell Santner to bring in the changes. The way India has started just emphasises the point how important Matt Henry to this attack is. He has troubled Rohit Sharma in the past, and in fact he has picked up Rohit’s wicket in the last game when these two have met. Shubman Gill has got a few boundaries away in the last 10-15 minutes or so and is catching up with the tempo.

Eight years on since a three-ball duck in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, India captain Rohit Sharma made amends by scoring his first half-century in an ICC tournament final during the 2025 Champions Trophy summit clash against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.

The 37-year-old Rohit waltzed to his half-century in only 41 balls as India motored past 50 within eight overs of a 253-run chase against New Zealand. (Read more)

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: Ramiz Raja with some gems on commentary: “You can talk about the statistical giant he is but what about the entertainment industry… absolutely stunning to watch.”

This is 58th half-century of Rohit Sharma’s ODI career. Will he get to convert this to his 33rd ODI century?

India has got to a flier here, and Mitchell Santner has come into the attack. Rohit Sharma has been leading this chase from the front and New Zealand needs to pick wickets here to push India on the backfoot. Shubman Gill, meanwhile who tends to get a few crisp shots away early on his innings, has not been able to get his innings going. To be fair to him, Rohit Sharma has had the majority of the strike in this inning thus far. However, it is important that Gill does not get into his groove too much and only concentrates in giving the strike to Rohit instead play shots of his own.

Kane Williamson will not field in the second innings of the Champions Trophy final after picking up a quad strain while batting. Mark Chapman has taken his place in the field.

Vinyakk Mohanarangan: As shown on broadcast, Rohit Sharma has used the step-down-the-track ploy against pacers frequently in recent years, especially early on in the innings. Since Jan 2022, in the 39 balls he has played that way against pace, he has been dismissed thrice but has scored 119 runs at a strike rate of 305.12. Just showed it again in that over against Nathan Smith.

India has got to a good start here, similar to New Zealand. Rohit Sharma has started brilliantly; however, what is important is where New Zealand missed the trick when they were batting was one man going onto score big ton. If India starts well here and scores 70-80 runs, they will have good insurance in the middle overs to slow down and bat sensibly. With not much of dew forming, the wicket might get only slower and slower from here on, and New Zealand does have some canny, accurate finger spinners in their attack who can exploit the conditions quite well in the second innings.

Rohit Sharma has started quite well here. The pitch has been quite slow, and Kyle Jamieson has tried to pitch the ball on the back-of-the-length which came nicely onto Rohit’s bat, which he pummeled for boundaries. This is not the kind of start New Zealand would have wanted early in the piece here. Ideally, they would have hoped to pick a couple of wickets and put pressure on the batters contrarily they have missed their mark. It is a question of how quickly New Zealand will bring their spinners into attack here and how well they bowl as seam has been quite hittable in the first innings and seems the same in the second innings as well.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan writes: At one point, after five wickets fell, India looked well and truly on top in the final against New Zealand. And then there was a recovery. That was the story in 2000 in Nairobi. Twenty five years back, it was Chris Cairns who scored an unbeaten century to break Indian hearts in the ICC Knock Out, as it was called back then. It wasn’t quite that sort of innings but Michael Bracewell is cut from the same cloth as generations of New Zealand cricketers who are equally effective with the bat and ball. Coming in at No 7, the spin-bowling-hard-hitting utility cricketer scored a smart 53 off 40 balls, to revive New Zealand’s batting effort that was heading nowhere for a large part of the afternoon in Dubai. Only Bracewell – and to a lesser extent Glenn Phillips – were able to break the shackles that were firmly in place after the early onslaught from Rachin Ravindra. Bracewell’s two sixes were especially sweetly timed, clearing the boundary comfortably, as he took a heavy toll on the last few overs of pace from India’s seamers. Thanks to him, 79/2 in the last 10 overs pushed New Zealand past the 250-mark. Fighters, aren’t they?

It was a good wicket compared to the last wicket. It was not turning much. All I could do was stick it into the stump line and wait for the batter to make some mistake. I like bowling in the death and the powerplay, it is more challenging and gives me more opportunity to pick wickets. I like talking to Kuldeep, even Jaddu bhai and Axar, I am pretty new to this setup and am looking to build some nice bonds. It (the right foot) is a little sore. It is a gettable score if we bat well initially.

Seamer Mohammed Shami had a forgettable outing in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday as he recorded the second-most expensive bowling figures by an Indian bowler in the history of the tournament. (Read more)

Only three times a team batting first and posting a score between 250 and 275 has won in the matches played at Dubai International Stadium. Will New Zealand achieve such for the fourth time at the stadium?

It just seemed like India did lose a bit of grip of this inning right at the end. They opted to bowl pace, which is hard to pinpoint against in the final overs, but Shami’s bowling just seem to have been an ideal foil to Bracewell, who scored a lovely hand here in the end. While it is not turning and gripping as much, we have seen at this venue that scores like this can be quite tricky. India need a good start and one of the top three to go on and score a big ton, as if they lose a few early wickets the demons from the past against the Blackcaps might resurface. We will be right back with the chase do stay with us.

Michael Bracewell is playing a lovely hand. He did start a bit slowly, but once he got his eye in, he started to take the attack onto the opposition. His innings show there are no demons on this wicket and batters if want to take their chances the wicket has been conducive also if the wicket does a lot more in the second innings his cameo might be the difference.

How good this total is hard to predict until India bats but the way the Indian spinners have bowled it did seem like there was not much turn on offer and it was all accuracy. While New Zealand does have their fair share of accurate spinners will they be able to contain the batters outside Santer will be a question. With the form that Mitchell Santner has been off-late India might be a bit wary taking on him but when these two sides met, the last Michael Bracewell has been hitable, and it was overs from Rachin which did pull back New Zealnd back into the game when it seemed like India were going to get around 280.

Mohammed Shami has comeback into attack for India. Since he brought back in the batting, it seems to have become a touch easier for the Kiwi batters. They have squeezed a six and couple of boundaries against him so far. This is the risk Rohit always would have been warry about when bringing pace back into the attack as the batters would be waiting for it to captalise on in these final overs. As we update Mohammed Shami picks up Daryl Mitchell. The batter tried to carve one through the covers however, was caught by the fielder in the ring. It is a 63-run knock off 101 balls from Mitchell, and only the result of this game will dictate how good or bad that innings from him is.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: A lot of talk about the pitch(es) in Dubai before the final. The broadcast just showed a graphic of how today, in the final, there has been the least degree of turn. Perhaps the expectation of turn on a pitch that Aaron Finch described as ‘bone dry’ has led to New Zealand’s troubles, more than the actual turn itself.

Michael Bracewell, since walking in, has shown no intention of the going after the bowling here. When there is a set batter from the one end at times it is the role of the other batter coming in to take a bit of attack on if it does come off it does or if it doesn’t it doesn’t however, the way New Zealand has paced this innings because both Latham and Williamson have fallen for a low score who are masters of controlling the middle of the innings seems to be a bit odd. Mitchell, though has made sure he did not lose his wicket; he has let bigger passages of plays during partnerships without boundary coming. While as a set better it is important to play risk avert cricket it also comes to skill-level to find that boundary playing low risk shot like a dab here a dab there or sweep on either side with soft-hands.

Rohit Sharma has turned back to Varun Chakarvarthy here, and he picked up the wicket of Glenn Phillips it is once again classic case of Phillips playing the spin late and picking the ball of the surface however, Chakarvarthy’s googly at quicker pace was too much for Phillips and the ball hit the middle-stump. With that comes end of another partnership which did start looking promising and went nowhere after consuming balls. That wicket will force Mitchell to further slow down as there are still about 10 overs remaining in this game and New Zealand does not have much quality batting to come.

Shubman Gill dropped a catch from Phillips just before the break. It was an easy chance, and the only probable reason Gill might have spilled it was due to the sun and different stadium structure here in Dubai. However, having said that, India today has been quite rusty with their fielding they have dropped a few and spilled a few half-chances as well. But the bowling from the spinners has been superb. It has not been trying to turn the ball square it has been all about hitting the stumps and be there and thereabouts every ball and if the batter wants to score a boundary he has to go out of his way and take more chance. However, if India don’t take their chances these modern batters are skillful and strong enough at some point to hit those boundaries.

While Daryl Mitchell has the ability to clear any boundary in this world, he is digging himself into a hole here. While it is wise to be cautious, he is not even trying to get some boundaries. And as we are updating, he attempted to pull one, and Rohit at mid-wicket tried to pluck the ball through the air, but the ball hit the tip of fingers and lost momentum and fell there and that attempt prevented boundary. If he had gone for a boundary, it would have released a lot of pressure for Mitchell and might have opened the doors for him for a few quick boundaries. However, with that happening, it will be interesting to see how Mitchell will go. Will he try to go back to his shell further and ask Phillips to go after it? Has he decided that he has changed his approach, and attacking is how he will go from here.

Every time there has been a partnership in this innings, India has found a way to break it. And we once again have another partnership building nicely between Phillips and Mitchell; however, unlike the previous ones, this needs to go on. Phillips has spend some time in the middle at the crease and with him going on backfoot and playing spin is working on this wicket because of the pace of this surface which is quite slow he has that extra-bit of time to work through and this where India needs to use the like of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja who are quicker through the air when compared to someone like Kuldeep Yadav who is slower through against Phillips. Varun Chakarvarthy too is quite quicker through the air but Rohit might be thinking of needing his overs for the later stages of this game.

Glenn Phillips broke the boundary drought with a six against Kuldeep. It was a tossed-up delivery from the wrist spinner, and Phillips obliged and hit it straight over the top. Phillips does have his fair share of issues against spin; however, if he gets going, he will get some quick runs, which might upset the rhythm of the Indian spinners. Daryl Mitchll here, on the other end, is holding his end up, and he needs to bat till the end as he is adjusted to the pace of the surface, and when compared to the batters to follow, he has a decent against spin.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan writes:

Tom Latham’s reputation as a solid middle-over batter was built on his ability to play spin, especially use the sweep and reverse sweep to great effect. But in back-to-back matches, he found the going tough against Ravindra Jadeja, a notoriously hard bowler to sweep because of his metronomic accuracy. In the league-stage match last week, Latham attempted the reverse sweep against the left-arm spinner, and cramped himself for room, missed the turning ball and was out LBW. Fast forward to the final, the batter opted for the conventional sweep, missed one that slid on straight, and was again trapped plumb in front. Jadeja knew immediately he had his man, and brought out his version of the ‘celebrappeal’ and umpire Paul Reiffel – who had correctly ruled out another LBW appeal in the previous Jadeja over against Latham – agreed. The former Australian pacer is nicknamed ‘Pistol’ and wasted no time in raising his hand. The review didn’t save Latham. “Latham generally plays that shot well, but in Dubai it’s been tough going for him,” Dinesh Karthik said on air. India’s spin-choke continued.

Tom Latham survived in Ravindra Jadeja’s previous over, however, not on this occasion. It was a lot more straightforward this time as Latham tried to sweep and missed it, and it was a straight call for the umpire. However, Latham did review the decision, but there were three reds on the ball-tracking this time. Latham falling this early in the innings might just do the trick for India. It is Kane Williamson and Latham who are the best players of spin in this unit, with both of them falling 270-280, which would be a fighting total on this pitch, now seems like an imaginary number. Glenn Phillips has walked into the middle, and he is another player who plays the spin on backfoot and picks the ball of length and is prone to get out to spin early on his innings.

India has burnt a review here. Latham tried to push a ball through cow-corner and missed, and it did seem like it was hit high on the leg, which is what KL Rahul would suggest; however, Rohit sent it upstairs and on the ball tracking it did show the wickets were missing on height. Jadeja is the last of the four spinners who have come into attack for India. Rohit has used the tweakers quite cleverly, not only today, for all the games in this tournament he has given spinners short, sharp bursts, and as soon as the batters got adjusted to one kind of bowler, he would bring in the change. Today it also helps that New Zealand are in rebuilding mode, and conditions here are helpful to the slow ball bowlers.

Tom Latham did start the tournament well for New Zealand, but he did tapper off a bit in the last couple of games. Today he needs to come up with a contribution if New Zealand wants to put a score of substance. He has the game does Latham to do it we have seen him playing a sublime innings against India in Pune in a Test match on a rank-turner. He has the ability to manoeuvre the ball through the gaps with soft-hands against spin and also can play sweeps and reverse sweeps if the length is right. However, the most important part for him is Daryl Mitchell batting at the other end too bats well. When India faced New Zealand in group game Mitchell got himself into a hole which he could not come out off  which also seemed to have the rhythm of Williamson’s batting.