India 254 for 6 (Rohit 76, Iyer 48, Rahul 34*, Bracewell 2-28) beat New Zealand 251 for 7 (Mitchell 63, Bracewell 53, Kuldeep 2-40, Varun 2-45) by four wickets
New Zealand defended with all their might against heavy favourites India. But in the end, India had just too much quality and depth to end their second straight ICC tournament unbeaten. They now hold two of the four ICC trophies, having lost in the final of the other two. In the last three ICC tournaments alone, India have won 22 of their last 23 completed matches.
On a tired pitch, run-scoring followed similar patterns. Having won a crucial toss – India have lost their last 15 ODI tosses – New Zealand raced away to 69 for 1 in the powerplay but the high-quality spin from India dragged them back. On a pitch offering them the least turn of all matches in Dubai this tournament, they bowled 38 overs between them to concede just 144 runs and take five wickets. Again as they got pace on ball at the death, Michael Bracewell scored 53 off 40 to give himself and his bowling colleagues a target.
India made a similarly breezy start of 64 for 0 in the powerplay, but New Zealand kept clawing their way back despite a 105-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Lacking the mystery of Varun Chakravarthy or the rare left-arm wristspin art of Kuldeep Yadav, New Zealand capitalised on the increased turn – average of 2 degrees in the first innings, 3.4 in the second – and tested India thoroughly. Their spinners bowled 35 overs for 152 runs and five wickets.
Every batter other than Virat Kohli got a start – scores ranged between Rohit’s 76 and Hardik Pandya’s run-a-ball 18 – but none of them completed the job. Their incredible depth, though prevailed as KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja saw them through with one over to spare and four wickets in hand.
