India justified their status as pre-tournament favourites with a four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the Champions Trophy final in Dubai.
Chasing 252 to win, India made a flying start as captain Rohit Sharma brought up his half-century from 41 balls to help steer his side to 100 without loss after 17 overs.
However, India proceeded to lose three wickets for 17 runs after the drinks break and it took an important 48 from Shreyas Iyer and 34 not out from KL Rahul to reach the victory target with an over to spare.
“I don’t think I can say this on camera, but I was s******* myself at the end,” Rahul said in a pitchside interview.
“We still had a couple of batters to come so I was confident we could get over the line but in moments like this and big games, it’s more about holding your composure, which we all know about – but it’s not easy.
“Happy to win this and happy to get over the line this time.”
Sharma and Shubman Gill put on 105 for the first wicket before Glenn Phillips took a stunning catch to dismiss Gill for 31 off the bowling of captain Mitchell Santner, with Virat Kohli then trapped lbw from Michael Bracewell’s first ball.
Sharma had made 76 from 83 balls before he was stumped by Tom Latham following a wild swing at Rachin Ravindra to leave India 122 for three, but Iyer and Axar Patel put on 61 for the fourth wicket to get the chase back on track.
New Zealand, who had won the toss and elected to bat first, had earlier reached 69 for one from the first 10 overs, with openers Will Young and Ravindra putting on 57 for the first wicket.
However, India’s spin attack wrestled control of the contest as they took the first five wickets to fall and helped restrict New Zealand to 251 for seven from their 50 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav bowled Ravindra (37) with his first delivery and then gratefully accepted a simple return catch from Kane Williamson as New Zealand slipped to 75 for three, with Latham making just 14 before being pinned lbw by Ravindra Jadeja.
Phillips and Daryl Mitchell steadied the ship with a partnership of 57 before the former was clean bowled by Varun Chakravarthy, with Mitchell going on to top score with 63 from 101 balls before chipping a slower ball from Mohammed Shami straight to cover.
Bracewell made an unbeaten 53 from 40 balls to ensure his side surpassed the 250 barrier, although that always looked a difficult total to defend, especially in the absence of leading wicket-taker Matt Henry.
“It’s been a good tournament,” Santner said. “We’re playing some good cricket at the end of the day and I guess we got beaten by a good side that turned up today.
“Everyone contributed throughout this whole tournament and that’s all you can ask for as a captain and a team.”
Asked what made the difference in the middle overs of his side’s innings, Santner added: “I think it was good bowling. They really got the squeeze on and credit to the way their spinners bowled.
“They’re world-class bowlers, all four of them, and I guess we were 20 or 25 under of what we wanted to get.”
