Varun Chakravarthy weaved his magic with a five-wicket haul as the Men in Blue successfully defended 249 against the Kiwis to clinch their third successive win in the tournament. Chakravarthy has become just the third Indian bowler to take a fifer in the tournament after Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami.
Earlier, New Zealand pacer Matt Henry had taken a five-wicket haul, too. He himself etched his name into the history books by becoming the first-ever bowler to take a fifer against India in the Champions Trophy.
The clash has now seen a rare record being created in the history of ODIs. In 4852 ODIs, this was the first match where two bowlers have picked up identical five-wicket hauls. Incidentally, both Chakravarthy and Henry took identical 5/42 with the ball to create this unique record.
Charvarthy weaved his magic to dismiss Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry as he took apart the Kiwi line-up.
Henry was penetrative with the ball, too. He took the wickets of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami.
The Indian team edged past the Kiwi challenge as they won the match by 44 runs. India finished on top of Group A and will now face Group B runners-up Australia in the first semifinal at the same venue in Dubai on March 4. Group A runners-up New Zealand will be locking horns against South Africa in the other semifinal at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on March 5.
The final will take place in Lahore too; however, if India qualify for the summit clash, it will be held in Dubai as well. South Africa and Australia both had reached Dubai as there was no clarity on who would play India in the first semifinal. However, with that now set in stone, South Africa will now leave for Lahore.
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