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On Wednesday, March 5, New Zealand defeated South Africa in the second semi-final of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 to progress into the final and setup the summit clash with India in Dubai. However, the two finalists previously faced each other in the last group stage match of the tournament, the Kiwis will aim to overturn the result, whereas India will eye to get another ICC trophy in their bag.
With a lot of talks going around India’s “undue advantage” as they have played all their matches in Dubai, veteran New Zealand batter Kane Williamson tried to put it all aside as he emphasised that the Kiwis will not be paying attention on India’s familiarity with Dubai track in the tournament.
The conditions are a lot different but you know that's sort of the nature of the beast: Williamson
Speaking after playing a century knock in New Zealand’s 50-run win over Protea in Lahore, Williamson said, "Yeah definitely the conditions are a lot different but you know that's sort of the nature of the beast I think in any tournament that you have, conditions change a little bit throughout. For us, it was nice to have that last match against India. There's some really good bits there. India are an outstanding team and playing really well. So, look, it's important we try and take away some learnings from that last game. Park this match, and in a final, anything can happen. And it was a great atmosphere last game and I'm sure it'll be a good one again.”
He also highlighted that the venue is beyond anyone’s control and the team will aim to perform well irrespective of other factors. "It is what it is (India playing in Dubai). Our focus is the next match, the location of that match, the opposition, they're all factors. Obviously, we played India there once. The conditions are different, so it's important that we try and take away some of those positives and be nice and clear in how we're trying to operate come two- or three-days’ time in the final. It's the nature of it and we're looking forward to the final and excited about it," he added.
It is to be noted that in the last group stage match, which was played between India and New Zealand in Dubai, the Indian spinners dominated on the spin-friendly track with Varun Chakravarthy picking a fifer. As they take on in the summit clash on Sunday, March 9, the Black Caps will look to adjust their approach against India in the spin attack.
