India books semifinal clash with Australia as Varun's five-wicket haul topples New Zealand

Now it's official. India will play Australia in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy, while New Zealand will return to Lahore and face South Africa. The two already qualified teams in Group A had the opportunity to do more than just finalise the semifinal line-up. They also had the chance to send a message to the remaining two teams. India was the team that sent the strongest warning, as they used a four-pronged spinning attack to smother New Zealand's 249 defence, winning by 44.

Varun Chakaravarthy was the leader of the spinners, bringing in a fast bowler Harshit Raa to strengthen an already imposing attack against the worn out surfaces of Dubai. Varun's career veered in a different ICC event four years earlier at the same venue. In the midst of a purple period, Varun proved unpickable, and claimed his first ODI fivefer. India's four spinners took 9 wickets for 156, which brought New Zealand's chase crashing to a halt, despite Kane Williamson's battling but risky 81.

Theoretically, India's 249 total was just eight more than the Pakistani total they managed at this venue a week earlier. The pitch was much more grippy and there was no dew on the second innings. India's decision to select Axar Patel proved a wise one. Rohit Sharma introduced spin quickly, by bringing in Axar Patel after the sixth over. Hardik Pandya had already taken out Rachin Ravindra, who was now playing as the second bowler, with a well directed short ball. Axar then completed a neat diving grab at third man.

Williamson drove Varun down to the ground for four after he started with a full ball. This was the only misstep the spinner made on the evening. He began to work over New Zealand's batsmen with his variety of variations soon after. In his second over he got Will Young to play the wrong line, and then inside-edged the ball into his stumps. Daryl Mitchell was brought in, who had scored hundreds of runs in both games against India at the World Cup last year and who has a variety of options when it comes to spin.