Picture Credit: X
The Indian cricket team have reached the final of the coveted ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where they will be taking on New Zealand on Sunday, March 9. Over the illustrious history of these two nations in cricket, New Zealand have the upper hand over India, winning three out of four matches in ICC knockout stage, but regardless, there have been a few Indian players with decent knocks in these contests.
In this article, SportsTiger looks back at the key knocks from Indian cricketers against New Zealand in the ICC knockout games.
Sourav Ganguly's hundred in CT 2000 Final
In the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2000, known as the ICC Knockout Trophy, which was played in Nairobi, Sourav Ganguly scored a sparkling 117 off 130 balls with nine fours and four sixes, to help India post a competitive total of 264/6 against New Zealand. But in the run chase, the Indian bowlers weren’t able to defend the runs in front of Chris Cairns, who scored an unbeaten hundred, to take New Zealand over the finishing line in the last over for their first-ever ICC trophy in men’s cricket.
Ravindra Jadeja’s fifty in CWC 2019 Semi-Final
During the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, played in Manchester, India were in pursuit of a 240-run target against New Zealand, and they lost a lot of early wickets, which meant that all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja had everything to do, to take the team over the finishing line. An exceptional innings of 77 runs in just 59 balls with four fours and four sixes, allowed India to get close to the target, but they eventually lost the match by 18 runs.
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer’s hundreds in CWC 2023 Semi-Final
In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final, played in Mumbai, the Indian batting lineup went all guns blazing, with the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli scoring tons, to help them post 397/4 total on the board. It was Virat Kohli’s 50th ODI hundred, becoming the first batter in the history to achieve the great feat, while Shreyas Iyer got 105 runs in just 70 balls, and later on, the Indian bowlers, thanks to a seven-wicket haul from Mohammed Shami, defended the runs successfully.
