Champions Trophy 2025: India To Renew Rivalry With Australia In Semifinal, South Africa Take On New Zealand

India have beaten New Zealand by 44 runs and have set up a semifinal clash against Australia, a repeat of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup final. In the second semifinal, South Africa will face New Zealand in Lahore on March 5.

India Defeated New Zealand In Final Group A Encounter

India have maintained their unbeaten record in Champions Trophy 2025 and are just two steps away from lifting their second CT title. Shreyas Iyer shone with the bat while Varun Chakaravarthy picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in the tournament.

Also Read: Champions Trophy 2025: Shreyas Iyer Gets Past Virat Kohli In Elite List, Achieves Huge Milestone Against New Zealand

Batting first, India posted 249 runs on the board. Shreyas Iyer was the peak of the Indian batters as he brought up his 21st ODI half-century. India were struggling at 30/3 at one time but it was Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel who steadied the ship with a crucial partnership. A late burst from Hardik Pandya proved to be crucial and the bowlers did the rest.

Also Read: Kiwi Pacer Matt Henry Scripts History In Champions Trophy, Topples Shoaib Akhtar To Register Unique Milestone Against India

Varun Chakaravarthy Runs Through The New Zealand Batting Lineup

Varun Chakaravarthy replaced Harshit Rana and his stupendous display with the ball will definitely provide a massive selection headache for Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma . The KKR spinner never really let the Kiwi players settle and will now be favourites to claim a place in the playing XI for the crucial semifinal.

The 33-year-old later insisted that he was feeling very nervous and the likes of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya talked to him to cool his nerves. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, the Man of the match said, “I did feel nervous in the initial stages. Not played a lot for India in ODIs, so was nervous. As the game progressed, felt better. Virat, Rohit, Shreyas, Hardik everyone was talking to me and asked me to calm down. Found out last night about play. Was expecting to play for the country and looking forward, but was nervous. It was not a rank-turner but if you bowled in the right places, it helped. The way Kuldeep, Jaddu, Axar bowled, even the pacers. it was a total team effort.”

The scenes from the 2023 ODI World Cup are still fresh in everyone's minds and the Men In Blue will be eager to avenge a defeat against the mighty Aussies.