It was well known before the Champions Trophy final that the battle was basically going to be between the Indian spinners and New Zealand batters on the slow and low pitch at the Dubai Stadium. And that is exactly how it panned out. After the Kiwis opted to bat, spin was introduced as early as the sixth over, and from that point on, the Indian spin quartet was breathing down the batters’ necks.

India ended up winning the match by four wickets with an over to spare. There was a period in the middle overs when it seemed ODI cricket was back in the 1990s. The batsmen were content to take ones and twos, to take the innings forward gradually. With not much urgency shown by the struggling batters, hardly any boundaries were coming in the middle period.