It was a massive comeback for Varun Chakravarthy at the ICC events for India as the 33-year-old spinner led India to beat New Zealand by 44 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
India and New Zealand were already in the semis of the Champions Trophy. However, this game decided who would face Australia and South Africa in the semis.
India has topped Group A with six points in three outings, they will now face Australia in the semis on the 4th of March in Dubai.
Despite the game did not have much to decide, both teams went all guns blazing in the game and made sure to give them all to win the game.
It was New Zealand who won the and chose to field first. Matt Henry took five wickets and played a crucial role in not letting Rohit Sharma’s side score big, restricting them to 249/9 in 50 overs.
India lost early wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. However, Axar Patel’s 42 runs and Shreyas Iyer’s 79 contribution helped India to set things well after losing three wickets fast.
But in the end, Hardik Pandya added 45 runs in 45 balls and made sure India put in a decent total.
This led Indian spinners to shine and work like a unit. Varun Chakraborty took five wickets and his follow spin partner Kuldeep Yadav contributed with two crucial wickets in the middle.
This led India to continue the winning run. Kane Williamson scored 81 runs but lost the wicket later in the innings to Axar.
Now New Zealand will face South Africa in the semis this midweek.
After making India win the game, mysterious Chakraborty said: “I did feel nervous in the initial stages. I have not played many matches for India in the ODI format but as the game went on I felt better.”
The impact against the Kiwis can make Chakraborty play against Australia too.
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