India win thriller to clinch third Champions Trophy title

India beat New Zealand by 4 wickets on Sunday (March 9) to win the final of the Champions Trophy 2025. In the title decider played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, India rode on captain Rohit Sharma’s 76-run knock to chase down the target of 252 runs in 49 overs for the loss of six wickets.

During his stay at the crease, Rohit faced 83 balls and hammered 7 fours and 3 sixes. The 37-year-old right-handed batter added 105 runs for the first wicket with Shubman Gill (31 runs) in 18.4 overs.

The duo helped India get off to a flying start in the summit clash, but the Kiwis made a superb comeback in the match by dismissing Gill, Virat Kohli (1 run from 2 balls), and Rohit in a span of 17 runs.

While Gill was caught by Glenn Phillips, who once again defied gravity to take an unbelievable flying catch, Kohli was trapped in front of the wickets by Michael Bracewell on the first ball of his spell.

The former India captain opted for a DRS, but it went against him. After losing Gill and Kohli, Rohit tried to build a partnership with Shreyas Iyer (48), but in an attempt to hit a big six against Rachin Ravindra, he lost track of the ball and was stumped by Tom Latham.

Highest score by captains in ICC finals

• Ricky Ponting (Australia): 140* vs India, 2003 ODI World Cup (March 23, 2003)

• Sourav Ganguly (India): 117 vs New Zealand, 2000 Champions Trophy (October 15, 2000)

• Clive Lloyd (West Indies): 102 vs Australia, 1975 World Cup (June 21, 1975)

• MS Dhoni (India): 91* vs Sri Lanka, 2011 ODI World Cup (April 2, 2011)

• Kane Williamson (New Zealand): 85 vs Australia, 2021 T20 World Cup (November 14, 2021)

• Rohit Sharma (India): 76 vs New Zealand, 2025 Champions Trophy (March 9, 2025)

Iyer then added 61 runs for fourth wicket with Axar Patel (29) but failed to complete his half-century for the second match in a row.

Just when it looked like the game was going down to the wire and it would be tough for India to chase down the target, KL Rahul (34) found an able partner in Hardik Pandya (18), and the duo once again pulled the Men in Blue out of danger.

Ravindra Jadeja (9) scored winning runs (boundary) for India on the last ball of 49th over of the run chase bowled by William ORourke.

The win on Sunday helped India become the most successful team in Champions Trophy history with three titles and Rohit Sharma becomes the fifth captain in the world to win multiple ICC trophies.

Teams to win Champions Trophy title

• India: 2002, 2013, 2025

• Australia: 2006, 2009

• South Africa: 1998

• New Zealand: 2000

• Sri Lanka: 2002

• West Indies: 2004

• Pakistan: 2017

Captains to win multiple ICC titles

• Ricky Ponting (Australia): 4 (2003 ODI World Cup, 2007 ODI World Cup, 2006 Champions Trophy, 2009 Champions Trophy)

• MS Dhoni (India): 3 (2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy)

• Clive Lloyd (West Indies): 2 (1975 ODI World Cup, 1979 ODI World Cup)

• Pat Cummins (Australia): 2 (2023 WTC, 2023 ODI World Cup)

• Rohit Sharma (India): 2 (2024 T20 World Cup, 2025 Champions Trophy)

Earlier in the first half, New Zealand failed to make the most of favourable batting conditions after their captain, Mitchell Santner, opted to bat first. The Kiwis made a flying start in the game, thanks to Rachin Ravindra’s explosive 37-run knock from 29 balls, but after spinners were introduced into the attack, the Black Caps lost track.

Varun Chakaravarthy picked the first wicket in the form of Will Young, who made 15, and then on the first ball of his spell, Kuldeep breached Rachin’s defence and shattered his stumps. There were a lot of question marks over Kuldeep’s place in the playing XI in the build-up of the match, but the 30-year-old spinner silenced his critics with his performance on the field.

After removing Rachin, he caught and bowled Kane Williamson on the second ball of his second over. The former New Zealand captain was only able to score 11 runs from 14 balls.

Daryl Mitchell (63) added 33 runs for the fourth wicket with Tom Latham (14) and 57 runs for the fifth wicket with Phillips, but he failed to score runs at a quick pace. The right-handed batter faced 101 balls during his stay at the crease and was only able to score three fours.

After Mitchell’s wicket, all-rounder Bracewell scored 53 runs from just 40 balls in the end overs to take New Zealand’s total past the 250-run mark.

For India, Kuldeep and Chakaravarthy picked up two wickets each for 40 and 45 runs, respectively, in 10 overs, and Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja dismissed one Kiwi batter each.

Source: News 18

--Agencies