New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner delivered a disappointing update for his team’s fans as he revealed that marquee pacer Matt Henry was ruled out of the Champions Trophy final against India due to an injury. Henry was spotted warming up ahead of the start of the final but couldn’t prove his fitness. As a result, the Kiwis decided to go ahead without him in the playing XI for the title-decider. As soon as Henry understood that he would not be able to feature in the final, tears rolled down his cheeks and the visual broke many fans’ hearts on social media.
The Kiwis named Nathan Smith as the replacement for Henry in the final.
BREAKING: Matt Henry is OUT of the ICC Champions Trophy final with a shoulder injury pic.twitter.com/qmBvTmVsiD
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 9, 2025
India have had a seamless run to the final, remaining unbeaten. They bested Australia in the semi-final to punch their ticket for the final.
Despite their loss against India in the group stage, New Zealand have also been impressive in all departments and arrive in the final on the back of a comprehensive win over South Africa in the final four.
“We’re going to have a bat first. Looks like a pretty good wicket, similar to the one we played India here a week ago. Want to get runs on the board and see what happens. Obviously expected a few blue shirts, great atmosphere, great ground. Going to be slightly different from what we got in Pakistan. We saw how India played and what they got out of it. Hope it slows down a bit later. Different guys have stepped up at different times. You want guys firing from the start and we have done that, as have India. Unfortunately, Matt Henry has been ruled out, we’ve got Nathan Smith coming in,” Santner said after winning the toss.
Men in Blue skipper Rohit Sharma confirmed at the time of toss that that they are going with the same line-up which played the last match.
“We’ve been here enough, batted first and bowled first, don’t really mind batting second. It hasn’t changed much; we’ve chased and won as well. It does give you a lot of confidence and takes the toss away from the game. At the end of the day, what matters is how well you want to play. That’s what we’ve spoken about in the dressing room, not to worry about the toss and to just play well, that’s what we’ve done and we have to do today as well. New Zealand have been a very good team over the past so many years, they tend to play good cricket in ICC tournaments. The challenge for us is to play well against them now. Same team for us,” Rohit said.
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