India's Kuldeep Yadav was on top of his game in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand.
Kuldeep Yadav cleaned up Rachin Ravindra with an excellent delivery during the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final between India and New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.
It was a googly on middle from Kuldeep and Ravindra stepped on his backfoot and looked to punch towards the offside. However, Ravindra was undone by Kuldeep’s delivery and had to make the long walk back after being cleaned up. A couple of overs later, Kuldeep struck again to dismiss Kane Williamson. The right-handed batter was looking to push but eventually was caught and bowled by the bowler.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first against India. Rohit Sharma named an unchanged playing XI from their semi-final win over Australia. New Zealand, on the other hand, made a forced change with all-rounder Nathan Smith replacing injured pacer Matt Henry, who is nursing a shoulder niggle.
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At the time of writing this report, New Zealand were 102/3 after 21 overs with Tom Latham (13*) and Daryl Mitchell (17*) unbeaten. Will Young (15) and Ravindra had forged a 57-run partnership for the first wicket before Varun Chakravarthy struck in the eighth over to remove the former.
India had beaten New Zealand by 44 runs in the group stage of the 2025 Champions Trophy. The Kiwis had won the toss in that game and asked India to bat first. India’s top-order of Rohit Sharma (15), Shubman Gill (2), and Virat Kohli (11) collapsed, restricting the Men in Blue to 30/3 at one stage. However, Shreyas Iyer (79), Axar Patel (42), and Hardik Pandya (45) played vital roles in taking India to 249/9. New Zealand were all out for 205 in their run chase.
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