India vs New Zealand highlights, ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Final: India beat New Zealand by four wickets to clinch third Champions Trophy title

Sportspersons tend to be fired up for the big games in their careers. They can also be emotional. As soon as he learnt that he learnt that he would not be able to play in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday due to a shoulder niggle-he failed the fitness test on the morning of the summit clash- New Zealand pacer Matt Henry, unable to control his disappointment of missing out on the big game, broke down, failing to hold back his tears.

Even as Henry was enduring the heartbreak of missing out on the occasion, the news of his absence was expectedly met with loud cheers from the crowd, a majority of the 25,000-spectators being Indians. At the toss, the Black Caps captain Mitchell Santner informed that, having been unable to recover in time from his shoulder injury that he suffered while taking a catch in the semifinal against South Africa at Lahore on Wednesday, Henry had been ruled out and replaced by allrounder Nathan Smith.
The in-form Henry is the Kiwis' most experienced pace bowler and, going into the final the tournament's leading wicket-taker. The 33-year-old jarred his right shoulder while taking a catch to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen in the 29th over, but after going back to the dressing room, the fast bowler returned to bowl two more overs in the Kiwis' semifinal win against South Africa at Lahore on Wednesday.

Henry's absence must've been music to India's ears. The fast bowler took 10 wickets in New Zealand's four matches @16.70 at the Champions Trophy, with his best being five for 42 in eight overs against India at the DICS. Naturally, former New Zealand pacer-turned commentator Simon Doull termed Henry's absence as a "big blow" for the Black Caps in the summit clash. Henry has damaged India in the past. In the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal at Old Trafford in Manchester, he took three for 37 in 10 overs-moving the ball around menacingly in helpful conditions to scalp the key wickets of openers Rohit Sharma (1), KL Rahul (1) and Dinesh Karthik (6). Left limping by Henry and Trent Boult’s early strikes, the Black Caps bowled out India for 221 in 49.3 overs to march into the final with an 18-run win.

Smith played the opening match of the 2025 Champions Trophy against Pakistan and Lahore and took two for 20 in two overs.

• India lose a review on an LBW appeal against Latham.
• Latham falls soon after, trapped LBW by Jadeja.
• Phillips ends the boundary drought with a six, the first in 81 balls.
• Phillips looks busy at the crease, keeping the scoreboard ticking.

• Kuldeep strikes instantly, cleaning up Ravindra with his first delivery.
• He strikes again in his next over, sending Williamson back.
• India's spinners tighten the grip, restricting the scoring rate.
• No boundaries conceded in the last 40 balls.

• Shami finds some early swing in his opening over.
• Ravindra starts cautiously before attacking Hardik with a six and two fours.
• New Zealand registers the highest opening stand against India in Champions Trophy 2025.
• Shami puts down a tough return catch off Ravindra.
• Ravindra survives after successfully reviewing a caught-behind decision.
• Iyer drops Ravindra on 29 off Varun’s bowling.
• Varun finally breaks the stand, trapping Young LBW.

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bat against India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

In a setback for New Zealand, star pacer Matt Henry has been ruled out of the title clash due to a shoulder injury sustained while fielding in the semifinal against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Nathan Smith has been named as his replacement in the playing XI.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma-led India have stuck to their winning combination, fielding an unchanged XI for the final.

"We're going to have a bat first. Looks like a pretty good wicket, similar to the one we played India here a week ago. Want to get runs on the board and see what happens. Obviously expected a few blue shirts, great atmosphere, great ground," Santner said.

"Going to be slightly different from what we got in Pakistan. We saw how India played and what they got out of it. Hope it slows down a bit later. Different guys have stepped up at different times. You want guys firing from the start and we have done that, as have India. Unfortunately Matt Henry has been ruled out, we've got Nathan Smith coming in," he said.

"We've been here enough, batted first and bowled first, don't really mind batting second. It hasn't changed much, we've chased and won as well. It does give you a lot of confidence, takes the toss away from the game. At the end of the day, what matters is how well you want to play. That's what we've spoken about in the dressing room, not to worry about the toss and to just play well, that's what we've done and we have to do today as well. New Zealand have been a very good team over the past so many years, they tend to play good cricket in ICC tournaments. The challenge for us is to play well against them now. Same team for us," India skipper Rohit said.

India booked their place in the summit clash after defeating Australia, while New Zealand outclassed South Africa to reach the final.

Interestingly, both teams were part of Group A in the tournament and had already faced off in the group stage.

India, the only unbeaten side in the competition, had secured a convincing 44-run victory over New Zealand in that encounter.

PLAYING XIS:

INDIA:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy

NEW ZEALAND:

Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, William O’Rourke, Nathan Smith