Rohist Sharma’s aggressive 76 off 83 deliveries supported by Shreyas Iyer’s 48 off 62 balls and finally KL Rahul’s unbeaten 34 off 33 deliveries steered India to clinch the Champions Trophy title for the third time defeating New Zealand by four wickets at Dubai ICC Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday. 

New Zealand elected to bat after winning the toss. But they failed to set up a big score for the opposition, surrendering to the Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy to finish at 251 for the loss of seven wickets in the stipulated 50 overs. 

Kuldeep and Varun scalped two wickets each giving away 40 and 45 runs in their restricted 10 overs, respectively. Except Daryl Mitchel (63) Michael Bracewell’s unbeaten 53 Kiwis could not pose any resistance. In reply, India scored 254 losing six wickets to win the match in 49 overs. 

However, Virat Kohli who regained form in the competition with a splendid century against Pakistan failed on the day, getting out for 1. 

India 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.