Shreyas Iyer played a crucial role for India in their last group-stage match of the Champions Trophy 2025, scoring a determined 79 runs against New Zealand on March 2. Coming in to bat in the 6th over after the early dismissal of captain Rohit Sharma, Iyer steadied the innings at a time when India was facing a tough situation.
After losing three quick wickets, including star players like Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, India was in trouble at 30 for 3. Iyer joined forces with Axar Patel to put together a vital partnership, adding 98 runs for the fourth wicket. By the time their partnership ended, India had reached 120 for 4.
Iyer started his innings cautiously, taking his time to get a sense of the pitch. His first boundary didn’t come until the 17th over when he impressively hit three fours in four balls off New Zealand’s William O’Rourke.
As the innings progressed, Iyer became more aggressive. After Axar Patel’s dismissal in the 30th over, he hit two sixes in quick succession during the 34th and 35th overs. However, he had a close call when he almost edged a catch to a fielder while attempting a pull shot.
Unfortunately, in the 37th over, while trying to take on O’Rourke again, Iyer gave a simple catch to Will Young at midwicket, ending his innings. His score of 79 matched that of Virat Kohli for the most runs by an Indian batter batting at No. 4 in the Champions Trophy, although Kohli’s unbeaten score technically tops the list.
After Iyer’s departure, India’s batting struggled once more. KL Rahul couldn’t find his rhythm and fell to Mitchell Santner, who had him caught behind.
In the end, India managed to score 249 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Hardik Pandya played a late cameo, helping to set a competitive total under challenging circumstances.
