BAN vs NZ

A convincing win for New Zealand as they cruise into the semi-finals alongside India, knocking Bangladesh and Pakistan out of the tournament. Rachin Ravindra’s century and Bracewell’s brilliance with the ball sealed the deal. This is Meeth Agrawal and Lavil Saldanha signing off. See you next time! 

Mitchell Santner (New Zealand captain): Yeah, it's nice. We knew it would be tough against Bangladesh on this wicket. Proud of the way we pulled things back in the middle overs. Bracewell was outstanding. I mean, he is a quality bowler with the way he changed his pace while bowling to right-handers. He took wickets in the middle phase. The wicket was a belter. There was a little bit of dew. It was a bit more two-paced than I thought. Rachin loves ICC events. Looks like he never left the game. He wasn't as fluent as he would have liked, but when he gets goings, it's tough to stop him. We are traveling to Dubai tomorrow morning. It will be a different challenge on a different wicket. Could be a bit on the slower side, I guess. 

Najmul Hossain Shanto (Bangladesh captain): We didn't bat properly. Lost too many wickets in the powerplay. It was a good wicket to but. We needed two good partnerships but pretty disappointing. Nahid is brilliant and happy with the way he bowled. The bowling unit has done well in the last two years but we should have batted well in the first 10 overs. We need to improve a lot. I think it's an important game. If we finish off nicely, it will be good for our confidence. We will need to bat and field well. 

Michael Bracewell (Player of the Match, New Zealand): Awesome to contribute to the win. The main focus was to win and qualify for the semi-finals. Keeping the stumps in play, if you give guys width they will cash in and score runs. It reminded me of bowling in Wellington, a fair bit of wind blowing. Trying to play what is ahead of us. I was hoping not to get the pads on but always good to be in the middle and finish the game. The guys set it up nicely for us. Great to see Rachin going from strength to strength in these ICC events

[9:38 PM Local Time, 10:08 PM IST]: New Zealand won by 5 wickets.

Rachin Ravindra - 112 (105) | Michael Bracewell - 4/26
Najmul Hossain Shanto - 77 (110) | Taskin Ahmed - 1/28

New Zealand march into the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025! A dominant performance sees them register back-to-back wins, and with this, India also confirms their spot in the final four from Group A!

But the bigger story here - Bangladesh and hosts Pakistan are officially OUT of the tournament! A massive disappointment for Pakistan, who were hosting an ICC event after so many years, only to become the first team, along with Bangladesh, to bow out. A bitter end to their campaign, and surely, the scrutiny will be intense.

The chase didn’t begin well for New Zealand, as Will Young fell for a duck in the very first over, cleaned up by Taskin Ahmed. Then, young speedster Nahid Rana, making his ICC event debut, rattled Kane Williamson with his pace, dismissing him for cheap. At 15/2, Bangladesh had their tails up, and an upset looked on the cards.

However, the Tigers couldn't maintain the pressure. A solid 55-run partnership between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra steadied the innings before Mustafizur Rahman struck against the run of play. But the moment belonged to Ravindra, who, coming off an injury and making his CT debut, played a spectacular knock. He survived a couple of dropped chances and went on to score a magnificent century, his fourth in ICC events, the most by any Kiwi batter.

He stitched a crucial 129-run stand with Tom Latham, who notched up a fifty, following up on his century against Pakistan. With the game firmly in their grasp, Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell, who earlier took four wickets and a stunning catch, finished the chase with ease.

Earlier in the first innings, Bangladesh posted 236, courtesy of a well-compiled 77 from skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto. But the Kiwis were exceptional in the field, with Bracewell leading the attack with four wickets. In contrast, Bangladesh’s sloppy fielding cost them dearly, and they paid the price.

New Zealand and India march ahead, while Bangladesh and Pakistan bow out. Time for the presentations! 

46.1 Rishad Hossain to Michael Bracewell, FOUR! NEW ZEALAND WIN! Length delivery outside the off stump, Bracwell gets on the backfoot and punches that one towards deep extra cover as the ball races away to the fence for a boundary. New Zealand win by five wickets and qualify for the semi finals. Bangladesh and hosts Pakistan will not be moving ahead after the group stages of the tournament

45.6 Taskin Ahmed to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! SCORES LEVEL! Back of a length delivery outside the off stump, Phillips picks that one up nicely and plays that one towards deep midwicket for a cracking boundary. New Zealand need only a run from 24 deliveries

45.5 Taskin Ahmed to Glenn Phillips, waist-high full toss from Taskin Ahmed. Phillips hits it down the ground to mid-on. Phillips appeals for the same but the review shows it 4 centimeters below the waist

45.4 Taskin Ahmed to Glenn Phillips, full and on the off stump. Phillips hits that one on the boot and it goes up in the air with short extra cover taking the catch. Huge appeal for a catch but it is a bump ball!

45.1 Taskin Ahmed to Michael Bracewell, length delivery outside the off stump. Bracewell gets an inside edge towards deep fine leg for a single

There's some issue with the LED screen at the sight screen that has caused some delay in the play. Kumar Dharmasena is convincing Phillips to continue. Just six runs needed now. 

44.6 Rishad Hossain to Michael Bracewell, full and on the leg stump. Clipped off the pads towards deep midwicket for a single to end the over

44.5 Rishad Hossain to Michael Bracewell, back of a length delivery outside the off stump. Bracewell plays it straight to short extra cover, no run