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On Sunday 9th March 2025, India will take on New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium for the finale of the 2025 Champions Trophy. Spectators are expecting an exciting clash between two top cricketing nations who met just days ago in the group stages.
India began the tournament as the favourites and unsurprisingly, they are the favourites to triumph in the final too. New Zealand began as 8/1 outsiders for what would be a second Champions Trophy victory but they may fancy their chances of an upset having reached the final hurdle. As well as looking at who might prosper on Sunday, we will provide you with everything you need to know about the tournament’s final battle.
ICC Champions Trophy Background
This is the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy which first appeared in 1998 (known as the Wills International Cup). With no tournament hosted in 2021, it has been eight years since the last Champions Trophy and we are guaranteed a new champion this time around as Pakistan are the current holders of the title.
Eight teams took place in this year’s tournament: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as hosts Pakistan. Ordinarily the final would have taken place in Pakistan, but due to security concerns, it was agreed India could play all their matches at a neutral venue.
The winner of this year’s Champions Trophy will walk away with $2.24m in prize money while the runner-up receives half this ($1.12m). India and New Zealand have both claimed the top prize before. New Zealand were champions in 2000 while India shared the crown with Sri Lanka in 2002 and were sole victors in 2013.
Final Format
The final between India and New Zealand will begin at 09:00 GMT on Sunday 9th March. It is very likely the final will be concluded on Sunday, but if not, Monday 10th March has been allocated as the reserve day. Both the original and the reserve day can be extended by up to two hours, if required.
In the group stages, sides needed to play at least 20 overs each for it to constitute a match. As with the semi-finals though, the minimum is 25 overs in the final. If the teams cannot complete the match on Sunday, it will pick up from where it left off on Monday, rather than starting fresh. However, the ICC said “every effort will be made” to ensure we have a winner this weekend.
In the unlikely event of a tie, the match will head to a Super Over to determine this year’s champion.
India & New Zealand’s Route to the Final
2️⃣brilliant attacks, going all out for #ChampionsTrophy glory
v , whose bowling will come out on top?#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/AJOgvubzXn
— ICC (@ICC) March 7, 2025
Both nations were drawn in Group A along with Pakistan and Bangladesh. By the time they faced each other, in the final group stage match, both had already qualified for the semi-finals. India had beaten Bangladesh and Pakistan by six wickets while New Zealand had beaten the former by five wickets and the latter by 60 runs.
This did not mean this final group match-up was a dead rubber affair though as group positioning determined the semi-final opponent. With Group B already concluded, both teams knew that the winner of the match (and therefore the winner of Group A) would face Group B’s runner-up, Australia. It should be noted here that two of Australia’s matches were abandoned due to the weather, meaning they were prevented from being able to finish top of the group.
Although both sides probably would have preferred avoiding Australia in favour of South Africa, they were hardly going to intentionally lose a game. Thanks to this we saw a competitive affair which saw India set a target of 249/9 from their 50 overs, something New Zealand fell 44 runs short of.
Just a couple of days later it was time for the first semi-final. India kept their winning streak going with a narrow victory over Australia. They had less than two overs spare (and four wickets left) when surpassing the target of 264 runs set by the Aussies.
The second semi-final was a little less climactic as South Africa never looked likely to reach New Zealand’s huge target of 362 runs. To their credit, the Proteas gave it a good try but wound up 50 runs short. Matt Henry took two wickets (as a bowler) in the clash, sending him top of the wickets-taken leaderboard (10). The only players with any realistic hope of catching him are Mohammed Shami (8) and Varun Chakravarthy (7).
Champions Trophy 2025 Final Predictions
Pakistan’s wet weather has disrupted a considerable chunk of this edition of the Champions Trophy but conditions in Dubai look set to be dry. We should, therefore, have our winner crowned on Sunday and it is hard to look past favourites India (priced at odds of 2/5). As well as coming out on top during the recent group stage clash, India also beat the Kiwis comfortably when the two met at the Cricket World Cup 16 months ago.
If you fancy having a bet on the match, the returns on a straightforward India win are low so you will have to look elsewhere for better value. Virat Kohli is a tempting pick at 5/1 to be the top match batter (or 3/1 for India’s top batter) as he has averaged an impressive 72.33 so far this tournament. There are a few strong picks for top bowler but Mohammed Shami would be our choice at 15/4.
Although we are backing India for this one, we do expect it to be relatively tight. New Zealand have a talented squad and they will not be easily brushed aside. So, for the neutrals at least, this should be an excellent watch.
Where to Watch
Sky Sports will be showing the action on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 8:30 am. Alternatively, you can access ball-by-ball radio commentary through BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra. The commentary team includes Jonathan Agnew, Vic Marks and Alex Hartley.