Welcome to the coverage of the ICC Champions Trophy final between India and New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Sundau.
A confident and in-form India will aim to capture their third ICC Champions Trophy title when they face a spirited New Zealand.
India have thrived on the advantage of playing all their games at a single venue in Dubai, and their decision to pack their 15-member squad with five spinners has proven crucial.
With four world-class spinners capable of operating at any stage of the match, India boast a major strength alongside their power-packed batting line-up.
Except for a crazy performance -- similar to what Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman did in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India -- it is hard to see the Kiwis having enough firepower in their batting and bowling to stop India's charge.
New Zealand, however, cannot be taken lightly. Their two ICC tournament titles have come at India's expense. They defeated India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2000, then known as the ICC Knockout, courtesy of a sensational century from Chris Cairns.
New Zealand also got the better of India in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals and have never lost to them in three matches in the T20 World Cup.
The toss will once again play a key role. Despite Rohit Sharma losing all four tosses so far in the tournament, India have consistently found ways to overcome the disadvantage.
The first semi-final, where India chased down 265 against Australia, showed that batting second could be easier on this Dubai surface, with spin expected to play a major role.
India chased down 265 with 11 balls to spare but at no stage in the run chase did Australia look like they had the upperhand.
India's spin quartet of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy has proved to be formidable for every opponent they have come up against, taking a combined 21 wickets between them out of a total 40 available in four matches played so far in the tournament.
Pacer Mohammed Shami has been India's standout performer with eight wickets at an average of 19.87.
New Zealand's spinners have been equally effective. Skipper Santner leads the way with seven wickets from seven matches, while Bracewell has bagged six wickets. Like Shami for India, pacer Matt Henry has been the top wicket-taker for the Kiwis with 10 wickets from four games, while Will O'Rourke has taken six wickets.
New Zealand's batting is as formidable as India's. Rachin Ravindra has amassed 226 runs in three games with two centuries while Kane Williamson and Tom Latham have scored 200-plus runs in four games, with both hitting a century and a fifty each.
For India, Virat Kohli leads the charts with 217 runs, including a century and fifty, while Shreyas Iyer has been in good form, hitting two fifties to score 195 runs and Shubman Gill has made 157 runs.
Captain Rohit Sharma has provided aggressive starts, though he has crossed 40 just once, making scores of 20, 15, and 28. His attacking approach in the Powerplay has helped India seize early momentum.
With momentum, experience, and a well-balanced squad, India are the favourites but New Zealand's history of upsets in big tournament makes this a contest to watch.
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