India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the final to win the Champions Trophy for the record third time. The men in blue chased down 252 runs in the penultimate over as Ravindra Jadeja hit the winning runs. India were the only unbeaten team in the tournament, winning five matches on the trot including
As for the match, the Kiwis, after winning the toss, opted to bat first and they got off to a decent start with Rachin Ravindra scoring quick runs. The opening stand of 57 runs in quick time was broken by Varun Chakaravarthy in the 8th over and from here on, the spinners took over for India to keep a check on the run-scoring. However, New Zealand batted smartly through their innings to post 251 runs on the board for the loss of seven wickets.
Michael Bracewell and Daryl Mitchell played contrasting knocks to score half-centuries to propel the Kiwis to a competitive total.
In the run-chase, Rohit Sharma led from the front, smashing a half-century off 41 balls, stitching a century opening stand with Shubman Gill. India lost quick wickets in the middle overs, but they were always ahead in the chase. Rohit scored 76 runs while the likes of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya did their job in the tricky run-chase, even as Ravindra Jadeja smacked the winning runs.
Rohit Sharma won the player of the match for his scintillating knock opening the innings while Rachin Ravindra, the leading run-scorer of the Champions Trophy, won the player of the tournament award.
Here's the full list of award winners:
Winners - India
Runners-up - New Zealand
Player of the Match - Rohit Sharma
Player of the tournament - Rachin Ravindra
Most runs: Rachin Ravindra (263 runs)
Most wickets: Matt Henry (10 wickets)
Highest Individual Score: Ibrahim Zadran (177)
