Watch cricket video highlights of Champion’s Trophy 2025 Final 2025. Between India and New Zealand. Venue of the match will be Dubai.
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New Zealand put up a strong defense against the heavily favored India, but ultimately, India’s quality and depth proved too much, allowing them to end their second consecutive ICC tournament unbeaten. They now possess two out of the four ICC trophies, having finished as runners-up in the other two finals. In the last three ICC tournaments, India has achieved an impressive record, winning 22 out of their last 23 completed matches. On a worn-out pitch, the pattern of run-scoring remained consistent.
After winning a crucial toss—India has lost their last 15 ODI tosses—New Zealand quickly reached 69 for 1 during the powerplay, but India’s high-caliber spin bowling pulled them back. On a pitch that provided the least turn of any match in Dubai during this tournament, the Indian spinners bowled 38 overs, allowing just 144 runs while taking five wickets. As they increased the pace towards the end of the innings, Michael Bracewell managed to score 53 runs off 40 balls, setting a target for his fellow bowlers.
India also started strongly, scoring 64 for 0 in the powerplay, but New Zealand continued to fight back despite a solid 105-run opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Lacking the mystery spin of Varun Chakravarthy and the unique left-arm wristspin of Kuldeep Yadav, New Zealand took advantage of the extra turn—an average of 2 degrees in the first innings and 3.4 in the second—and challenged India significantly. Their spinners bowled a total of 35 overs, yielding 152 runs and claiming five wickets.
Every batsman except Virat Kohli managed to get off to a decent start, with scores varying from Rohit’s 76 to Hardik Pandya’s quickfire 18. However, none succeeded in finishing strong. Their remarkable depth, nonetheless, ensured success as KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja guided the team home with one over left and four wickets remaining. It was a final that aimed to salvage a tournament lacking in closely contested matches.
India approached the game armed with significantly better resources suited for the conditions compared to New Zealand, but the toss turned out to level the playing field somewhat. Rachin Ravindra, the tournament’s top scorer, played superbly against the new ball during the best conditions of the day. Without exerting himself or taking any risks, he amassed 37 off 29, delivering a start that left the crowd astonished. Facing pressure, India opted for their most likely wicket-takers instead of their usual strategy of starting with Axar Patel.
Varun deceived Will Young with the drift on a legbreak, but it was the natural variation that resulted in the key wicket, trapping him lbw. Kuldeep, with only five wickets to his name up until then, made his mark in the final by taking two crucial wickets: Ravindra with a wrong’un off his first ball, and Kane Williamson who was outsmarted in the air, leading to a return catch. After three wickets had fallen, New Zealand found themselves at 75 for 3, and it was now the responsibility of Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell to conserve wickets for the final push.
Mitchell found it hard to score freely, which forced Latham—an anchor in the middle overs of ODI cricket—to take risks. When you gamble against the consistent Jadeja—who bowled 10 overs for 30 runs and took one wicket—it’s crucial to connect because he can easily get you lbw. For the second time in this tournament, India exclusively bowled spin during the middle overs. Although it was a slow pitch, it offered minimal turn. This highlighted the skill and precision of India’s spinners, who effectively suffocated New Zealand during this phase.
It took the Kiwis 21 overs to double their score of 69 from the first 10 overs. Varun returned to claim Glenn Phillips’ wicket in the 38th over, again stalling their momentum. Bracewell reminded everyone of Ravindra’s fluid batting as India switched back to pace towards the end. Mitchell, following in the footsteps of Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill in registering his slowest fifty, attempted to accelerate, but a slower ball from Mohammed Shami caught him out.
Conversely, Bracewell struck three fours and two sixes, helping New Zealand reach what only seemed a respectable total at that moment. That respectability appeared shaky given Rohit’s explosive start to the chase. His aggressive batting against the fast bowlers, including Nathan Smith, who stepped in for the injured Matt Henry—the tournament’s top wicket-taker—forced Santner to take action. He brought himself on in the ninth over, but he and Ravindra could only manage a few relatively uneventful overs.
In the first over following the drinks break, Phillips made his third astonishing catch of the tournament, leaping high at extra cover to take a one-handed catch that sent Gill back to the pavilion. With his very first ball, Bracewell trapped Kohli lbw for just one run. At that point, scoring became more challenging. Rohit slowed his pace, appearing to set up for a traditional Rohit innings. However, after a stretch of eight overs yielding just 19 runs and two wickets, he charged at Ravindra in an attempt to hit his fourth six of the night and was stumped.
Iyer, who had already recorded two half-centuries, partnered with Axar to repair the inning with a 61-run partnership starting from 122 for 3. Iyer displayed more aggression of the two. Young caught him at the deep midwicket boundary, but inadvertently touched the boundary line, and Jamieson dropped him after he attempted two consecutive sixes off Phillips, marking the sixth dropped catch between both teams. When Iyer was dismissed in the 39th over, caught by Santner at short fine leg, India required 67 runs from 68 balls.
The required run rate was close to a run per ball, with the largest gap between runs and balls at four runs with six overs remaining. Trusting their batting depth, India continued to take calculated risks and hit sixes. As the pace bowlers returned, the composed Rahul guided India forward. Jamieson posed a final challenge by taking Pandya’s wicket with a sharp bouncer in the 48th over, but India still had Jadeja to rely on.
