India beat New Zealand by 44 runs on Sunday (March 2) in Dubai to march into the semifinal. Fifty from Shreyas Iyer steered India to 249 runs. In reply, Varun Chakravarthy's five wicket-haul handed India a healthy 44-run win over the Kiwis.

Being inserted to bat first, India had a terrible way to start their innings. Matt Henry ran riot and rocked the India's top three inside the powerplay. However, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel then did the rebuild job, stitching an impressive 98-run stand together before the departure of Axar after his 42 off 61 deliveries.

KL Rahul came in and supported Iyer as the duo had another 44-run stand. Shreyas Iyer brought up his fifty before his departure to William ORourke on 79 off 98 deliveries.

At the backend of the innings, Hardik Pandya scored a brisk 45 off 45 balls and helped his side get a competitive total of 249 runs on the board.

In reply, Hardik Pandya started superbly with the ball for India, removing Rachin Ravindra cheaply. And then Will Young and Kane Williamson stitched a little 32 stand before Varun Chakaravarthy knocking him down. Daryl Mitchell too fell soon after, leaving Kane Williamson alone, along with Tom Latham. But wickets kept crumbling at the other end, while Kane Williamson stood tall scoring runs at a fine rate.

But Kiwis had lost the momentum in their middle order as Varun Chakaravarthy came in and spun a web to pick up a fantastic fifer and strangled the Kiwis tightly. It was Axar Patel who took the big fish of Kane Williamson after his gutsy knock of 81 off 120 balls as New Zealand managed to get only 205 runs, losing the match by 44 runs.