 "Shreyas Iyer raises his bat after completing his half-century in 75 deliveries during the Champions Trophy Group A match between India and New Zealand in Dubai. AP")
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 witnessed its final group match on Sunday, with India finishing at the top of Group A after defeating New Zealand by 44 runs in Dubai . Bowlers from both teams thrived on a wicket that appeared to be getting slower with each passing day and dictated terms for the better part of the game.
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For the Black Caps, it was the pace group led by Matt Henry’s haul of 5/42. India, meanwhile, benefited from its decision to bolster its spin department as it ended up accounting for nine of the 10 Kiwi wickets that fell on Sunday.
Varun Chakravarthy – who replaced Harshit Rana in the XI – starred in the victory with a haul identical to that of Henry and was dominating social media trends after India completed a hat-trick of wins.
Iyer leads the way with old-fashioned ODI batting
The spin strategy no doubt played an important role in the Men in Blue’s victory and will be integral to their plans for the semi-finals as well as the final, given they will be playing both games at the same venue.
However, it is also important to note Shreyas Iyer’s hard-fought 79 off 98 deliveries and the difference it made in a match dominated by bowlers from both teams — a first for the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy, which has witnessed either one-sided or batting-heavy contests so far.
Iyer was joined by all-rounder Axar Patel at a time when India had suffered the kind of top-order failure that had been their undoing in the knockout stages of ICC events in the past. Henry struck twice while Kyle Jamieson accounted for India skipper Rohit Sharma as the Men in Blue lost their top three with just 30 on the board inside the powerplay.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe collapse was reminiscent of how India had crumbled in the final of the 2017 edition against Pakistan or in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against the Black Caps – both in England.
Iyer might not be the most explosive of batters, which is a reason why he might find it tough to fit into the Suryakumar Yadav-led T20I side in the build-up to next year’s World Cup.
However, the manner in which he absorbed the pressure at the centre at a time when the Kiwi pacers were breathing fire and helped India get back on its feet is why he remains an integral member of the ODI middle-order.
Iyer manages pressure with calculated risks
It wasn’t until after he had faced 30 balls that he decided to finally take a risk. And when he did, he ended up releasing the pressure for the Men in Blue by collecting three boundaries in Will O’Rourke’s fourth over.
His next boundary would come at the halfway stage of the innings, at which point India had crossed the century mark, but had enough wickets in hand for a late push. Iyer would go on to bring up his half-century in 75 deliveries – his slowest in ODIs.
But the manner in which both he and Axar batted during their 98-run partnership for the fourth wicket was reminiscent of some good, old-fashioned ODI batting, especially from the era before the ICC’s introduction of the two-ball rule in the 50-over game.
Iyer perished at a time when he had just shifted gears towards the end of the second powerplay with two sixes in as many overs, offering Will Young a simple catch at midwicket while attempting to pull a short delivery from O’Rourke.
His approach at that stage, however, only goes to show that he wasn’t necessarily playing for a personal milestone and that the prospect of a sixth ODI hundred wasn’t as appealing to him as steering India towards a safe total was.
India’s top-order had been in the limelight in the team’s recent ODI victories, with Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli scoring match-winning centuries against Bangladesh and Pakistan, respectively and skipper Rohit returning to form with a ton in the one-day series against England.
Iyer’s contribution on Sunday, however, highlights the fact that India’s middle order is in safe hands with him as well as the likes of Axar and Pandya around.
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