Varun Chakravarthy starred with 5 wickets for 42 runs as India defeated New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday and topped the Group A table to set up a semifinal date with Australia on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Group B table toppers South Africa will now face New Zealand in the second semifinal in Lahore on Wednesday.

Kane Williamson scored a fighting 81 but he was sent back by Axar Patel who along with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja took 1 wicket apiece. India will be wary of their semifinal opponents who even with a depleted squad pose a threat. The last time these two sides met in an ICC 50-over tournament, Australia had walked out as the ODI World Cup 2023 champions in Ahmedabad.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer produced a composed fifty under pressure but New Zealand, led by pacer Mark Henry, managed to stifle India to an under-par 249 for nine.

Iyer (79 off 98 balls) shared a well-paced 98 runs alliance with Axar Patel (42 off 61 balls) for the fourth wicket and Hardik Pandya (45 off 45) played a quick-fire innings towards the end to help India survive a top-order meltdown.