 "IND vs NZ Stats: Chakravarthy surpasses Shami with maiden ODI five-for; Kohli joins elite club")
The Indian spinners spun a web around the Kiwi batters after Shreyas Iyer’s fighting half-century helped the Men in Blue recover from a disastrous start as India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs in the Champions Trophy on Sunday. Iyer’s patient knock of 79 off 98 deliveries, along with handy contributions from Hardik Pandya (45) and Axar Patel (42) allowed India to bounce back from 30/3 in the first powerplay to post 249/9 after New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner opted to field.
Champions Trophy 2025: News | Schedule | Results | Points Table
Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy would then star with the ball later in the evening with a haul of 5/42, collecting his maiden ODI five-for in just his second appearance in the format as India bowled New Zealand out for 205 in reply. Such was the dominance of the Indian spinners that they ended up accounting for nine of the 10 wickets that fell on Sunday evening.
With group stage of the 2025 Champions Trophy coming to an end, we take a look at some of the records broken and milestones achieved in the India-New Zealand clash in Dubai:
— Varun Chakravarthy’s haul of 5/42 is the best by an Indian bowler on Champions Trophy debut, surpassing Mohammed Shami’s 5/53 against Bangladesh in India’s opening game on Thursday, 20 February. It’s also the second best on CT debut after Josh Hazlewood’s 6/52 against New Zealand in 2017.
— Chakravarthy’s figures are also the second best by an Indian bowler at the ‘Mini World Cup’. Ravindra Jadeja’s 5/36 against West Indies in 2013 remains the best performance by an Indian at the tournament.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts— Virat Kohli became the 22nd cricketer overall, and the seventh Indian to complete 300 ODI appearances. Given the decline of the format in recent years, he might very well be the last cricketer to reach that milestone in the 50-over game.
— Shreyas Iyer completed his half-century in 75 deliveries on Sunday, his slowest in the ODI format.
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