Ricky Ponting, the old Australia captain, wants the New Zealand cricketers to keep their heads up, even after losing to India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final in Dubai. India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final game. This is their fourth loss in a big short-format final in the last ten years.
New Zealand came in second to India in Group A. They played great in Pakistan, in the Champions Trophy, beating Pakistan and Bangladesh early on. Even with all the travel to Dubai, they still had enough energy to crush South Africa in the Lahore semi-final.
I don’t think anything went wrong, Ponting said on The ICC Review. They had another great tournament. They were awesome the whole time.
New Zealand won three out of five games in the Champions Trophy, only losing twice to India.
When asked who he thought would be in the final at the beginning of the tournament, Ponting said he thought Australia and India would be the last two teams. He said, “When talking about the top teams in ICC events, you have to include New Zealand because they always do well.
“I didn’t pick them this time because I thought Pakistan would do better, playing at home, and I thought South Africa would also be there. I was wrong, New Zealand was there again.
“They played an awesome game against South Africa in the semi-final. I don’t think they could have played better. They batted first and scored 360-something, which I think is the highest score ever in a Champions Trophy game.
“They just lost to a really good team in the final, and it was close. India won in the 49th or 50th over. They played really well, Ponting said.
