India finish on top of the Group A points table in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 after beating New Zealand in the last game of the group stage on Sunday (March 2) in Dubai. 

After New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner chose to bowl first, India scored 249/9 in 50 overs. In reply, New Zealand were all out for 205 runs, as the Men in Blue won by 44 runs. 

ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Semi-final fixtures confirmed

With this result, India finished as the Group A champions with six points, and New Zealand finished in the second place with four points. In the first Semi-final of the tournament, India will face Group B runners-up Australia at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday (March 4). On the other hand, New Zealand will face Group B champions South Africa at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan on Wednesday (March 5). On next Sunday (March 9), the Final will be played either at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai) if India qualfiy or Gaddafi Stadium (Lahore) if India fail to qualify. The reserve days are available for both the Semi-finals and the Final. 

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Indian middle-order batters played crucial roles

Coming back to the India vs New Zealand match, India lost their first three batters in seven overs as the Men in Blue were struggling at 30/3. Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel handled the early situation very well with a 98-run partnership for the fourth wicket. While Patel scored 42 runs, Iyer scored 79 runs. Also, KL Rahul added 23 runs, while Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja had a useful 41-run partnership for the seventh wicket. While Jadeja scored 16 runs, Pandya scored valuable run-a-ball 45 runs to guide the Indian total to a challenging place. 

Among the New Zealand bowlers, pacer Matt Henry claimed a fifer as he had the bowling figures of 8-0-42-5. 

Indian spinners dominated

In reply, New Zealand batters failed to provide solid answers against the Indian bowlers. Especially, the Indian spinners completely controlled the innings with their tight lines, mainly targeting the stumps. Player of the Match Varun Chakravarthy, who made ODI comeback by replacing Harshit Rana, claimed his maiden ODI fifer as he had the bowling figures of 10-0-42-5. Also, Kuldeep Yadav bagged two wickets (2/56), while Hardik Pandya (1/22), Axar Patel (1/32) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/36) had one wicket each.

Only the former skipper Kane Williamson managed to fight against the disciplined Indian bowlers as the right-handed batter recorded his 12th ODI 50+ score against India. He scored 81 off 120 balls but didn't get any strong support. Opener Will Young (22) and the skipper Mitchell Santner (28) were the only other New Zealand batters to reach the 20-run mark.