Dubai, Mar 2: Varun Chakravarthy led India’s charge with a superb 5-42, the best figures by a bowler in the ongoing tournament, as India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in the final Group A match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

The win means India finish as Group A toppers and will now face Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday, in what is a re-match of the 2023 ODI World Cup final. New Zealand, meanwhile, will take on South Africa in the second semi-final at Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday, with both teams flying together to Lahore on Monday.

After Shreyas Iyer’s 79 helped India reach 249/9 in 50 overs, Chakaravarthy deceived the Blackcaps batters with his pace and variations to finish with 5-42 in his ten overs on Champions Trophy debut and bowl them out for 205 in 45.3 overs.

For New Zealand, Kane Williamson waged a lone battle through his 81 off 120 balls on a tricky pitch, where he relied on nudges, glances and inside-out shots for boundaries. But with the Indian spin quartet applying the squeeze in middle overs and taking nine wickets, it meant that the match went in the way of Rohit Sharma & Co.

India could have got their first wicket in the fourth over if Will Young’s catch wasn’t dropped by Chakaravarthy at mid-on off Hardik Pandya’s bowling, with the fielder kicking the ball off the boot for four. But four balls later, Pandya provided the early breakthrough as Rachin Ravindra upper-cut to deep third, who took a low diving catch.

Though Young and Williamson hit some tight boundaries, India didn’t let them go off the hook as New Zealand made 44/1 in the first power-play. Varun Chakaravarthy, who got enough turn in his first over, got on the wickets board by having Young inside-edge a googly onto his stumps.

With India’s spinners getting lots of turn, Williamson, given a life on 32 by Chakaravarthy, and Mitchell were content in playing the waiting game while hitting boundaries occasionally in their 44-run stand for the third wicket. But Kuldeep Yadav broke the partnership as he got a googly to spin past the inside edge and trap Mitchell lbw for 17.

Williamson hanged around to get his fifty off 77 balls by tickling Jadeja through fine leg for four, and keep New Zealand alive in the chase by hitting an inside-out drive against the spinner for another boundary. But Jadeja bounced back by trapping a reverse-sweeping Tom Latham lbw for 14.

Jadeja could have got Williamson out on 68 if KL Rahul had grabbed the chance. But Chakaravarthy struck twice in his two overs to trap Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell lbw, though replays showed the latter would have been not out as the ball missed the stumps.

The game’s result became a foregone conclusion when Williamson danced down the pitch to hit Axar over mid-on, but missed the delivery and was stumped easily by Rahul for a gritty 81 off 120 balls. Mitchell Santner hit some late boundaries in making 28 off 31 balls, till his off-stump was uprooted by Chakaravarthy, who picked a five-wicket haul in just his second ODI game and effectively sealed the deal in India’s favour.

Previously, seamer Matt Henry stood tall yet again to pick 5-42, third five-for in 50-over format, as New Zealand restricted India to 249/9 in their 50 overs. The Blackcaps used the generous help offered from the black soil pitch to good effect and keep India in check.

Iyer rescued India from a top-order collapse by making a fine 79 and got the company of Axar Patel, who made a solid 42. With New Zealand bowling superbly in back end, Hardik Pandya’s run-a-ball 45 ensured India posted a competitive total.

Henry and Kyle Jamieson made good use of the conditions by asking tough questions to the Indian batters via seam and swing respectively. Though Rohit Sharma clobbered Henry for four and six respectively, the seamer bounced back by trapping Shubman Gill plumb lbw with a lovely inswinger for just two.

Jamieson joined in when Rohit mistimed a pull and was caught at midwicket for 15. Virat Kohli got going with two edgy boundaries in his landmark 300th ODI, before he cut one hard off Henry and Phillips flew to his right at backward point to take a stunning catch, leaving everyone shellshocked, as the batter fell for 11.

With the ball turning a lot for New Zealand’s spinners, India went 51 balls without hitting a boundary till Axar swept off Santner in the 16th over. After that, Iyer carted William O’Rourke for three fours - two coming off pulls, while third one came as a drive over extra cover.

While Iyer continued his good run to get his 22nd ODI fifty in 75 balls, Axar took a liking to Bracewell’s off-spin by hitting him for two fours, before lofting him over extra covers for six. The 98-run stand was broken when Axar tried to pull a down leg delivery from Rachin Ravindra, but top-edge was caught by backward square leg and the batter fell for 42.

With Rahul getting off the mark by lofting Ravindra for four, Iyer got the timing right on his shots fetching him a six each off the spinner and O’Rourke respectively. But in the 37th over, the short ball caused Iyer’s downfall as he was rushed into the pull off O’Rourke and his top-edged shot was caught by short mid-wicket running backwards.

Three overs later, Rahul fell for 23 as he tried to play a skiddy delivery from Santner away from his body, but got a thick edge behind to Tom Latham. Pandya and Jadeja kickstarted the slog overs phase by hitting Bracewell for six and four respectively, before the former pulled O’Rourke for another boundary.

Hardik stood tall to hit a forehand-like shot for four off Henry, who later had Jadeja slicing to backward point taking a one-handed diving catch. With New Zealand spot on with their lengths, they managed to keep Hardik quiet till the all-rounder cut loose in the 49th over.

He sliced and lofted Jamieson for back-to-back fours, before following it up by pulling the pacer over long-on for six to take 15 runs off the penultimate over. But Henry dismissed him and Shami in the final over to pick a five-fer and keep India one run short of 250, which wasn’t enough for the Blackcaps to outclass Rohit & Co.

Brief Scores: India 249/9 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 79, Hardik Pandya 45; Matt Henry 5-42) beat New Zealand 205 in 45.3 overs (Kane Williamson 81, Mitchell Santner 28; Varun Chakaravarthy 5-42, Kuldeep Yadav 2-56) by 44 runs

--IANS

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