New Zealand Crush Bangladesh to Reach Semis

New Zealand finally secured their place in the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. They gained a five-wicket win against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Pakistan on Monday. New Zealand’s victory shattered the hopes of both Bangladesh as well as the host Pakistan to move into the semifinals. Therefore, the final confirmed semifinalists from Group A are New Zealand and India.

The star of this match was the New Zealand player with Indian roots, Rachin Ravindra. He scored a match-winning innings of 112 runs in just 105 balls. Before this another star from the bowling side of New Zealand, Michael Bracewell dismantled the batting order of Bangladesh by taking 4 wickets in his 10-over spell. After this match, the New Zealand teams will battle with the Indian team to decide who will top the group A on March 2, whereas the Pakistan team will play against Bangladesh, in a dead rubber on February 27.

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Bangladesh Falter After Promising Start

Bangladesh opted to bat first after losing the toss. Despite that, the openers made a swift start for Bangladesh by scoring an opening stand of 45 runs in just 7.4 overs. However, New Zealand’s disciplined bowling attack soon turned the game around. The skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto made the highest score from Bangladesh’s team by pulling off 77 runs in 110 balls with nine fours.

Key Moments in Bangladesh’s Innings:

1st Wicket (7.4 overs, 45/1): Tanzid Hasan (24) was dismissed by Michael Bracewell.
5th Wicket (26.1 overs, 118/5): Towhid Hridoy (7), Mahmudullah (4), and Mushfiqur Rahim (2) fell in quick succession after the first wicket.
6th Wicket (36.2 overs, 163/6): Shanto’s resistance to the disciplined bowling attack ended after a gritty 77-run knock in which he was dismissed by William O’Rourke.
Final Score: 236/9 in 50 overs (Run rate: 4.72 per over).

Top Performers for Bangladesh:

Batter	Runs (Balls)	4s	6s	Strike Rate
Najmul Hossain Shanto	77 (110)	9	0	70.00
Jaker Ali Anik	45 (52)	5	0	86.53
Tanzid Hasan	24 (24)	4	0	100.00

New Zealand’s Bowling Performance:

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Economy
Michael Bracewell	10	26	4	2.60
William O’Rourke	10	48	2	4.80
Mitchell Santner	10	44	1	4.40

Bracewell’s spell (4/26) was the most impactful performance as he bowled ten straight overs and removed the most key batters to keep Bangladesh in check.

Rachin Ravindra’s Century Seal the Win for New Zealand

While the chasing total was very low at just 237 runs, but even then the New Zealand start was a bit shaky to attain that total. First Taskin Ahmed dismissed Will Young (0 off 2) in the very first over then later the second wicket of the GOAT Kane Williamson (5 off 10) came. This created a very struggling situation for the Black Caps with just 15 runs total at the loss of two main wickets in 3.3 overs.

However, Rachin Ravindra (112 off 105, 12 fours, 1 six) and Tom Latham (55 off 68, 4 fours) turned the game around and shattered the hopes of the Bangladeshi Team by making a crucial partnership of 129 runs for the fourth wicket.

Rachin Ravindra played a superb knock by first reaching his fifty in 50 balls and then bringing up his century in just 95 balls. This innings of him of 112-run innings also made him the highest century-maker for New Zealand in ICC ODI tournaments, after breaking Nathan Astle’s record of 4 hundred.

Key Moments in New Zealand’s Chase:

15/2 in 3.3 overs: Early blows to the New Zealand team as Young and Williamson departed cheaply.
72/3 in 13.1 overs: Devon Conway (30 off 36) was dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman.
201/4 in 38.2 overs: Rachin Ravindra completed his century before giving his wicket to Rishad Hossain.
Winning Runs (46.1 overs): Glenn Phillips (21*) and Michael Bracewell (11*) finished the chase, hitting the winning boundary with 23 balls remaining.

New Zealand’s Batting Performance:

Batter	Runs (Balls)	4s	6s	Strike Rate
Rachin Ravindra	112 (105)	12	1	106.67
Tom Latham	55 (68)	4	0	80.88
Devon Conway	30 (36)	4	0	83.33

Bangladesh’s Bowling Performance:

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Economy
Michael Bracewell	10	26	4	2.60
Nahid Rana	9	41	1	4.56
Mustafizur Rahman	8	50	1	6.25

Pakistan Officially Eliminated from the Champions Trophy

With this win of New Zealand, the host Pakistan’s hopes of making it to the semifinals were completely crushed. Pakistan lost their first match against New Zealand and then later lost the second match against India. After this, only a very slim chance of progressing to the semi-finals was left with Pakistan – if Bangladesh had won this match. However, the Kiwis made no mistake and rose victorious and officially eliminated both Bangladesh as well as Pakistan.

Pakistan Captain Mohammad Rizwan’s Statement:

“We can say that our campaign is as good as over. We should have our fate in our hands, not depend on other teams. We made crucial mistakes in both our games, and unfortunately, they cost us a place in the semifinals.”

The Pakistan vs Bangladesh game on February 27 in Rawalpindi is now a dead rubber, while India and New Zealand will battle for the top spot in Group A on March 2.

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Updated Group A Standings After NZ vs BAN Match

Position	Team	Matches Played	Wins	Losses	Points	Net Run Rate (NRR)
1	India (Q)	2	2	0	4	+1.870
2	New Zealand (Q)	2	2	0	4	+1.680
3	Pakistan (E)	2	0	2	0	-1.340
4	Bangladesh (E)	2	0	2	0	-2.010

(Q = Qualified, E = Eliminated)

Upcoming Matches in Group A:

🗓 February 27 – Pakistan vs Bangladesh (Rawalpindi, Dead Rubber)
🗓 March 2 – India vs New Zealand (Clash for Group A’s Top Spot)

With two semifinal spots secured, the race in Group B now heats up as teams fight for the remaining spots in the knockout stages.

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New Zealand Crush Bangladesh to Secure Semifinal Spot, Pakistan Eliminated from Champions Trophy 2025