02 March,2025 01:39 PM IST | Dubai | R Kaushik
India spinner Varun Chakravarthy (right) during his 5-42 against NZ in Dubai yesterday. Pic/PTI
Varun Chakravarthy was a late addition to the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy, sneaking in as the fifth spinner in the 15 at the expense of reserve opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Kept in cotton wool for the first two games, the Tamil Nadu leg-break/googly bowler was finally given a go at the Champions Trophy on Sunday against New Zealand and responded in style with a splendid fifer in only his second One-Day International.
Rana replaced
One of four spinners in the Indian XI - Chakravarthy came in for pacer Harshit Rana - he stood the tallest to help Rohit Sharma's men complete their Group A league engagements in style, with a 44-run rout of New Zealand in a clash between hitherto unbeaten teams. India will now take on Australia in the first semifinal, also at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on Tuesday while New Zealand will run into South Africa in Lahore the following day.
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Asked to bat for the first time in the tournament after Rohit lost his ninth toss on the bounce, India recovered from a disastrous start to post a competitive 249-9, the highest total at the venue in this tournament. India lost Shubman Gill, Rohit and Virat Kohli - to another sensational catch at point by Glenn Phillips - with just 30 on the board in the first six-and-a-half overs but eked out numerous handy partnerships to ensure that the four-pronged spin attack had enough to work with.
Matt Henry was New Zealand's best bowler with a five-wicket haul of his own, but he had to share the credit with Shreyas Iyer, who played another polished and responsible knock to shore up the innings. Iyer found able allies in first Axar Patel, with whom he added 98 for the fourth wicket and then KL Rahul, who helped him realise 44 for the next.
However, with a final push imminent, India lost Iyer and Rahul in the space of a quarter of an hour, which meant they had to recalibrate their approach. Having played a measured hand of 79, Iyer perished to the pull, but Hardik Pandya was around to bail India out with a run-a-ball 45. India's essay received late momentum with 65 coming in the final 10 overs, meaning New Zealand had their work cut out as they sought to top the group.
India began smartly when Pandya had Rachin Ravindra well caught by a diving Axar at third-man but were less than switched on in the park with misfields galore. Kane Williamson, the master of the chase, was put down twice, by Rahul and Chakravarthy, and seemed intent to make India pay a heavy price for those lapses as he batted deep, targeting his areas even though India's spinners were impeccable for the large part while Kuldeep Yadav went for a few.
Miserly spell by Axar
Williamson was stumped off the last ball of Axar's miserly spell, either side of which Chakravarthy used his bewildering mix of leg breaks and googlies to great effect. He also produced a cross-seam screamer that beat skipper Mitchell Santner for pace and ended his late cameo, the last nail as New Zealand folded up for 205.
Brief scores
India 249-9 in 50 overs (S Iyer 79, H Pandya 45, A Patel 42; M Henry 5-42, K Jamieson 1-31) beat New Zealand 205 all out in 45.3 overs (K Williamson 81, M Santner 28; V Chakravarthy 5-42, K Yadav 2-56, H Pandya 1-22) by 44 runs
