DUBAI (Reuters) -Spinner Varun Chakravarthy justified his selection with a five-wicket haul and bowled India to a 44-run victory against New Zealand in a Group A clash between two sides, who had already made the last four of the Champions Trophy.
Electing to field, New Zealand restricted India to 249-9 with Matt Henry (5-42) leading their superb bowling display backed up by their characteristic sharp catching.
Shreyas Iyer (79), Axar Patel (42) and Hardik Pandya (45) scored valuable runs but India still settled for a below-par total.
Chakravarthy (5-42) helped India bundle out New Zealand for 205 despite Kane Williamson’s classy 81 to maintain their unbeaten run in the tournament.
India, who topped Group A, will face Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai on Tuesday.
New Zealand will take on Group B leaders South Africa in the second semi-final in Lahore on Wednesday.
“New Zealand are a good team, who are playing some good cricket,” India captain Rohit Sharma said.
“Very important to get a good result, we played a perfect game.”
India did not start well though and slumped to 30-3 in the seventh over following Henry’s two-wicket burst in the powerplay.
The seamer removed Shubman Gill lbw and dismissed Virat Kohli when Glenn Phillips took a breathtaking catch at backward point leaving the batsman crestfallen.
In between those dismissals, Rohit, who often leads India’s powerplay assault, mistimed his pull shot against Kyle Jamieson and returned to pavilion.
Iyer and Axar forged a 98-run stand to steady India before both fell in quick succession.
Pandya produced a run-a-ball cameo down the order but India still fell short of the 250-mark.
All-rounder Pandya returned to remove Rachin Ravindra for six in the fourth over of the New Zealand innings but Williamson kept them in the hunt.
India substituted pacer Harshit Rana with Chakravarthy and the spinner made an immediate impact in his first match of the tournament that earned him player-of-the-match award.
India’s spin quarter, who went on to claim nine of the 10 New Zealand wickets, put the squeeze on in the middle overs with Chakravarthy running through the middle and lower order.
“India controlled the middle phase better,” New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said.
“It spun a bit more than we thought, and they squeezed us well with four quality spinners.”
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
