That's that for league stages
We leave you with a teaser from our final report, and a confirmation that it is India vs Australia, and New Zealand vs South Africa in the semi-finals.
India spun a web around New Zealand to defend 249 for their sixth straight win against what has been a bogey team for them in recent times. They added Varun Chakravarthy to the three spinners they already were playing, and he responded with a five-for at a venue where an indifferent showing against Pakistan in 2021 led to a major setback to his international career. Finishing top of their group, India were scheduled to face Australia in the semi-final on Tuesday. New Zealand and South Africa were to fly back to Pakistan for their semi-final on Wednesday.
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All over
India will have to stay unbeaten to win this Champions Trophy. They have ended top of their group with a comprehensive 44-run win. The last wicket is a wrong'un from Kuldeep Yadav. India will now face Australia in the semi-final in about 40 hours from now.
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Varun gets another
Now the third variation from Varun. Mitchell Santner kept New Zealand alive with 28 off 31 but he is done in by a cross-seam delivery of a seam bowler. Santner has lost his off stump to this 113kmph delivery. Varun has four balls to complete a five-for in.
PS: He completes the five-for with two balls to go as Matt Henry tries to hit out.
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Game, set, match
With his last ball of the night, Axar Patel has squeezed one past an advancing Williamson to seal the game for India. Finally, after having him dropped on 17 off his bowling, Axar has his man for a hard-fought 81 off 120. This has to be thew game. They need 81 off nine overs with only Mitchell Santner left.
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Varun gets another
This is a significant wicket. Some video analysis has shown that generally Varun Chakravarthy tends to bowl the wrong'un with the scrambled seam and the legbreak with the seam straight and pointing towards right-hand batter's slip. Now, though, he has turned one against the angle despite the scrambled seam to trap Michael Bracewell right in front.
Actually Kane Williamson has told Bracewell it has turned in enough, but the replay shows it hasn't. It is missing off. This is the price they are paying for Daryl Mitchell burning a review. New Zealand 159 for 6, need 91 from 77.
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Phillips misses a half-volley
A ball after pulling him for a six, Glenn Phillips has missed a long half-volley from Varun Chakravarthy to be trapped right in front. The ball has drifted in all right, falling inside the line of where his bat is, but you expect international batters to cover for such a full ball. It's 151 for 1 in the 36th over. It is all on Kane Williamson's bat now.
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Williamson dropped
We are into our last drinks break and the last ball before it was a chance for India. Kane Williamson tried to giver himself room to hit Ravindra Jadeja into the covers, got an edge, and it lobbed off KL Rahul's glove for a single. He has now been dropped on 17 and 68. New Zealand need 106 off 90, and our forecaster gives India the slight edge here.
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Jadeja traps Latham
Tom Latham is a good sweeper and reverse-sweeper, but Ravindra Jadeja is equally good at getting close to the umpire on release from round the wicket and thus pitch within the stumps and straighten up to hit the stumps. Latham is beaten on the reverse-sweep, and doesn't bother reviewing the lbw call. New Zealand 133 for 4 in 32.2. The match on a knife's edge with Williamson keeping New Zealand alive.
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Nothing between the two teams
This is a classic ODI where you can use the classic formula of doubling the 30-overs score. New Zealand are 125 for 3 in 30 overs, exactly half of what they need to get in 50 overs. India were 130 for 4 at the same juncture.
New Zealand enjoyed more help for the quicks when they bowled, India have had more turn. However, there is not mjuch to separate them. At 30 overs, New Zealand drew 34 false shots against, and India have drawn 30. India tried to hit 31 boundaries, losing three wickets. New Zealand have tried 28, losing only one.
Kane Williamson is the set batter and the key. India have 17 overs of spin left.
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Fifty for Williamson
He has had a half chance dropped, he has had to work hard even for singles, but Kane Williamson has hung in to get to a fifty off 77 balls and keep New Zealand alive in this match. He has relied on nudges and glances for boundaries and waited for the rare loose ball. He is trying to take it deep and give New Zealand a fighting chance in the end. They need 136 off 134 on a difficult track.
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Kuldeep too good for Mitchell
Pinned down by the four Indian spinners, Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell first fell behind the asking rate and then Mitchell had to deal with just the perfect delivery. Left-arm wristspinner gets nice dip, pitches on a good length just outside off, and then turns past the inside edge to trap him in front. It is still surprising the amount by which a top-class international batter is beaten by the turn. Mitchell also takes a review with him.
This is a key key breakthrough for India. New Zealand were avoiding taking risks against top-quality spin bowling and hovering around four an over thanks to cashing in on the rare loose balls. The asking rate went past six an over for the second half of the innings. Just when you were wondering how much longer can New Zealand go without taking risks given four spinners to tackle, Kuldeep has actually comprehensively done Mitchell in on a defensive shot. New Zealand 93 for 3 in 25.1 overs.
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India spinners vs NZ spinners
Until this game, India's spinners had actually been doing less than the opposition spinners in this tournament, conceding 4.63 per over as against India's scoring rate of 3.93 an over against the opposition spinners. In this match, bowling second for the first time, they have turned the tables. Put together, New Zealand spinners bowled 25 overs for 126 runs and two wickets. India's have so far bowled 10 overs for 31 runs and one wicket. Kuldeep Yadav is yet to come on.
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Varun an unknown to New Zealand?
Before today, the whole New Zealand XI put together had faced 39 balls from Varun Chakravarthy, 15 of them in T20Is and 19 in the T20 leagues. They must surely have studied a lot of footage but there is no substitute for actually facing a certain type of bowling. It shoed in how Will Young and Daryl Mitchell have struggled to pick him out of the hand. New Zealand 64 for 2 in 17 overs.
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Varun's wrong'un too good for Young
This is just too good, and a little ungainly for an international opener, especially someone who did very well in Tests in India not long ago. Goes to show you can watch the ball much closer when you are not under the requirement to to keep scoring quickly. Varun Chakravarthy gets the wrong'un on the spot, Will Young doesn't pick it, and has no time to react off the surface. Bowled.
After a half-volley early on, Varun is all over on that good length that you can neither drive nor cur. Daryl Mitchell is beaten soon, and he has now reverse-swept twice without any runs. New Zealand 49 for 2 in 11 overs.
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A cracker in store?
Batting hasn't been straightforward in the powerplay, there are no signs of dew hampering the bowlers, and New Zealand are 44 for 1 in 10 overs. They have wickets in hand but are behind the asking rate, and batting is only going to get tougher. The field will spread, the ball will get older, and India have four spinners to bowl. So far Axar Patel has bowled two overs for four runs, and Varun Chakravarthy has bowled one for seven. Chakravarthy also produced two close lbw shouts in that over.
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Pandya strikes early
India are without a full-time second quick, but Hardik Pandya has provided them an early breakthrough. After some swing and seam in his first over, Pandya digs one in and Rachin Ravindra upper-cuts him for a low diving catch for Axar Patel at deep third. New Zealand 17 for 1 after four overs.
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Shami shoulder concern
A bit of a concern for India as Mohammed Shami sends in a weak return from the deep in the second over of their defence of 249. When batting and running a second, a throw from the deep had hit Shami smack on the right shoulder blade. Shami has opened the bowling, but is getting constant attention from the medical staff when on the fence. He and Hardik Pandya are the only quicks in the side. New Zealand 9 for 0 as Shami runs in for the third over of the innings.
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Henry five-for
3 Number of five-fors for Matt Henry. Only three men - Bond, Hadlee, Boult - have taken more for New Zealand
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Pandya takes India to 249
Amid falling wickets, while having to farm the strike, Hardik Pandya still scores a run-a-ball 45, rearranging the figures of Kyle Jamieson with two fours and a six in the 49th over. However, Matt Henry takes the crucial wicket of Pandya in the last over to limit further damage. He then goes on to get Mohammed Shami to end up with a five-for. This is so far the highest total in the Dubai leg on arguably the toughest pitch so far. So expect a good contest provided the pitch doesn't start skidding on when the temperature dips.
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Another special catch
New Zealand have been phenomenal in the field all afternoon. To go with Glenn Phillips' screamer earlier, there has been excellent ground fielding and safe catching. After frustrating Hardik Pandya at backward point twice in the 45th over, Kane Williamson takes a one-handed stunner diving to hi left to send Ravindra Jadeja back. Now Hardik Pandya has to manage with three tailenders for four overs. India 223 for 7 in 46 overs.
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Santner 10-1-41-1
The New Zealand captain is the first one to bowl out in this innings. He has bowled beautifully for figures of 10-1-41-1, the wicket being KL Rahul's. Just the one boundary off him. India 208 for 6 in 44 overs.
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KL Rahul falls
New Zealand keept striking as captain Mitchell Santner takes the edge of KL Rahul with a quic ker delivery. Rahul is pushed back of the trajectory, but the ball is still full and turns enough to take a healthy edge. Tom Latham takes a superb catch. Rahul gone after looking good for his 23 off 29. These wickets have a big impact with only four in hand for the slog overs. India 185 for 6 in 40m overs.
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Short ball gets Iyer
He has been good against the short ball in this innings, but Shreyas Iyer eventually falls to one that gets big on him. He has hardly restrained from pulling this innings, often going in front of square. In all, Iyer faced 20 short or short-of-good-length balls from the quicks, and scored 21 runs off them. He attacked 10 of those 21 deliveries. Restrict it just short balls, and he went after six out of eight. India now 172 for 5 in 36.2 overs.
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Axar falls short of fifty
Axar Patel tries a paddle-pull off Rachin Ravindra and top-edges to short fine where Kane Williamson gets himself in a tangle but completes a one-handed catch. India 128 for 4 with Axar gone for 42 off 61. He might not have got a milestone but Axar continues to impress as a batter, giving India more depth in their batting. The more difficult the match situation, the likelier Axar is to be promoted to No. 5.
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Fifty for Iyer
It has taken 75 balls, which makes it his slowest, but Shreyas Iyer has brought up his half-century. Already in this tournament, Shubman Gill has scored his slowest fifty and hundred, and now it is Iyer. India were 30 for 3 when they lost Kohli, and went 51 balls without a boundary. On a difficult track, Iyer has batted fluently, hitting four fours. India 118 for 3 in 28 overs.
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Pace vs spin
On the most helpful track for spinners so far in Dubai, India have lost no wicket to spin. In fact they have done fairly well against them after losing three wickets to pace. Spin has gone for 12-1-58-0 as against 15-0-59-3 for pace. The ball is turning, and should turn more as the match goes along. India have four spinners in their ranks. India 117 for 3 in 27 overs.
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Help for spinners
4.5 Average degree of turn in this match, more than the previous two games. It turned 3.5 degrees on an average in the Bangladesh game
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Glenn Phillips, left-hander
Something interesting happened on the ball 17.2. Shreyas Iyer pushed to Glenn Phillips' left at cover and thought off a single, but Phillips surprised the batters a touch by not running around the ball but fielding it left-handed and getting ready to throw show they they go ahead for one. Now he bowled right-arm, bats right-hand, but don't underestimate his other side. In an interview with Nagraj Gollapudi last year, Phillips said that left was his "best side".
Here is that excerpt:
My personal best will include Stoinis at the World Cup, closely followed by the Kyle Mayers one [in the second T20I in 2020] if we are talking boundary catches. Actually, no, I took a catch in the T20 Blast against Gloucestershire. It was the [Steve] Eskinazi one: full tilt, full jump, full stretch. I dived to my best side, my left.
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Iyer opens the tap
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Will O'Rourke started his fourth over with figures of 3-0-6-0, but Shreyas Iyer rearranged the figures with three fours: two aerial pulls in front of square and a drive over extra cover
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Fifty-one to 51
51 Number of balls between India's fourth and fifth boundary. This Axar sweep off Santner takes India to 51 for 3 in 15.1 overs
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Kohli or Rizwan? #youprefer
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Flying Phillips ends Kohli's edgy innings
Virat Kohli seems he is mindful of the slow surface and wants to make the most of the field restrictions before scoring becomes really difficult. He cloffs one over mid-on for four, gets a leading edge over point for another four, a swat wide of mid-on off the thick inside edge, and then when he nails a full-blooded cut, Glenn Phillips flies to his right at backward point to pouch a stunner behind his body. No celebration from Phillips. Just a look at the stunned crowd. Kohli watches the replay while walking back, and is bemused. India 30 for 3 in seven overs.
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Swinging Jamieson
3.1 Average degree of swing Kyle Jamieson has extracted in his first two overs. The corresponding number for Matt Henry is 0.8 degree in his first three overs.
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India lose openers
There has been something on offer the quicks here, and they have made good use of it. Kyle Jamieson has asked questions with his swing bowling to go with Matt Henry's seam. When Jamieson goes short as a change-up, Rohit Sharma mis-hits the pull and is caught at midwicket for 15 off 17. This is the fullest of the three balls Rohit has pulled today. India 22 for 2 in 5.1.
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Henry's first
1 This is matt Henry's first wicket in the powerplay this Champions Trophy
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Gill gone early
This one looks ugly. Playing a length ball on the front foot with a cross bat and getting beaten by a long way. This is considerable seam movement for Matt Henry, but this time back in, and it hits him dead in front. It looks like he is done on a forward defensive but when you roll through the replay, it shows Gill playing across the line. India 15 for 1 in 2.5 overs. This is Henry's fullest delivery today. Still on a good lelngth, though.
In comes Virat Kohli. In his 300th ODI.
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Rohit opens up after watchful start
It's only two overs, but India have made a more watchful start than recent times, reaching 7 for 0 in two overs. There is a good reason for it. Matt Henry has seamed the ball, and Kyle Jamieson has swung it. Only one boundary, and that through a pull off a marginally shorter delivery than the ones that Rohit Sharma had been defending.
In the third over, he charges at Henry and lofts him over mid-on with a pull. When Shubman Gill tries to do the same, he is beaten by the seam movement from Henry.
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New Zealand win the toss, bowl against India
Mitchell Santner has won the toss for New Zealand and has chosen to chase, hoping the pitch skids under the lights. They have made one change: Daryl Mitchell in for Devon Conway. No extra spinner in for them.
Rohit Sharma would have batted first anyway having fielded in the first two games on the same square. India have packed the side in with one extra spinner, resting Harshit Rana for Varun Chakravarthy. That give India two attacking, wicket-taking spinners in Varun and Kuldeep Yadav.
India 1 Rohit Sharma (capt.), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Mohammed Shami
New Zealand 1 Will Young, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt.), 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O'Rourke.
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Pitch report
Let's first talk about the pitch's location on the square. It is on to one side so one square boundary is 8m bigger than the other. Again a dry surface expected to be slow. So expect teams to want to bat first after winning the toss because there is little dew in Dubai.
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Seventh to 300
300 If Virat Kohli plays this match, he will become the 22nd player overall and the seventh Indian to play 300 ODIs
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Permutations and combinations
Apart from other stakes in this match, it is also interesting to see what they do with their XIs. Do India try Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy? Now New Zealand have a happy headache: whose place does Daryl Mitchell take now that he is well and available. Also, is Rohit Sharma fit and available?
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5 vs 5
5 India have won each of their last five matches against New Zealand, which broke a streak of five straight wins for New Zealand
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No dead rubber
These two teams have qualified for the semi-finals, but there are many subtexts involved here. They could be facing each other in the final right on this square again. The winner gets to avoid the Group B winners in the semi-final, but in exchange they get Australia. Can you be certain which one is a better draw?
Then these two teams are on five-match winning streaks. One of those will be broken tonight. Welcome to our coverage of India vs New Zealand.
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