 "Sourav Ganguly had scored 117, his second consecutive century in the 2000 ICC KnockOut, during the final against New Zealand in Nairobi. Reuters")
India and New Zealand are set for a rematch in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy two days from now, with the two teams set to face off for the glittering trophy in the final in Dubai on Sunday. India had triumphed over New Zealand by 44 runs last Sunday, thanks to Shreyas Iyer’s valuable 79 as well as Varun Chakravarthy’s 5/42. The Men in Blue would then go on to defeat Australia by four wickets in their semi-final meeting on Tuesday to qualify for the Champions Trophy final for the third consecutive time.
Champions Trophy 2025: News | Schedule | Results
The Black Caps, on the other hand, dished out a dominant performance in the second semi-final against South Africa in Lahore the following day to confirm a second meeting with Rohit Sharma’s men in the ongoing tournament.
What’s also interesting to note is the fact that Sunday’s final won’t be the only instance of India and New Zealand facing each other in the final of the tournament that has come to be known as the ‘Mini World Cup’.
How New Zealand had beaten India to win their only ICC white-ball tournament till date
India and New Zealand had previously met in the final of the 2000 edition (then known as the ICC KnockOut) in Nairobi, Kenya. The Men in Blue had stormed into the final after thrashing South Africa by 95 runs while New Zealand defeated Pakistan a four-wicket loss.
India captain Sourav Ganguly was in red-hot form in that tournament, having scored 141 in the semi-final against the Proteas and would follow it up with a second consecutive century – this time scoring 117.
India were cruising along at 202/1 in the 39th over, and had their sights set on a total in excess of 300 – a match-winning total back then. The Kiwis, however, were able to restrict them to 264/6 thanks to a flurry of wickets in the final stretch of the of the Indian innings.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsNew Zealand were off to a forgettable start in reply, losing opener Craig Spearman with just six on the board, while captain Stephen Fleming departed shortly after, with both wickets going to Venkatesh Prasad.
Anil Kumble was able to break a budding third-wicket partnership between Nathan Astle and Roger Twose by having the former dismissed. New Zealand were later staring down the barrel after getting reduced to 132/5 and desperately needed a match-defining partnership at that stage.
Team India had begun to rebuild that year under Ganguly’s leadership following the infamous match-fixing saga, and for a moment it appeared as if the country would win its first major global event since the 1985 Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket at that point in the match.
Seam-bowling all-rounder Chris Cairns, who wasn’t even a certainty in the XI that morning due to an injured knee, answered the Kiwi dressing room’s prayers and shattered a billion Indian hearts with an unbeaten 102 – one of the most important knocks in New Zealand’s cricket history.
Cairns ended up forging a 122-run partnership with Chris Harris (46) for the sixth wicket that took the game away from India’s grasp. By the time Prasad removed Harris to collect his third wicket, the game was as good as over for the Men in Blue.
Fittingly, it was Cairns who got to score the winning run and deliver New Zealand their first, and till date only, triumph in an ICC white-ball event.