After Varun's five-wicket haul sinks New Zealand, India will face Australia in the semifinals.

It's official now. India will play Australia in the Champions Trophy semifinals, while New Zealand will fly back to Lahore to face South Africa. Aside from the academic matter of determining the semifinal lineup, the two already qualified teams from Group A had an opportunity to send a warning shot to the other two remaining teams. India delivered the most ominous dose of their credentials, unleashing a four-pronged spin attack to strangle New Zealand in a 249-run defense, winning by 44. 

Varun Chakaravarthy led the spin group, replacing Harshit Rana, a quick bowler, to bolster a formidable attack on Dubai's worn surfaces. Varun's career took a wrong turn four years ago at this same site during another ICC event. Tonight, amid a purple patch, he proved unpickable. He scored his maiden ODI five-fer as India's quartet of spinners combined to take 9 for 156, bringing New Zealand's chase to a halt despite Kane Williamson's valiant but risky 81.

In theory, India's total of 249 was only eight greater than Pakistan's score against them a week before at this same site. However, the pitch provided far more grip, and with no severe onset of dew in the second innings, India's selection decision proved sound. Rohit Sharma didn't waste any time adding spin, bringing in Axar Patel in the sixth over. Before that, Hardik Pandya, now the second seamer, removed Rachin Ravindra with a well-directed short ball, and Axar made a superb diving grab at third man.

Varun opened with a whole ball, which Williamson drove down the ground for four.  That was the spinner's only misstep in length on the night, as he quickly began working on New Zealand's batters with his bag of variations.  In his second over, he had Will Young play the wrong line and inside-edge the ball to his stumps.  In came Daryl Mitchell, who hit hundreds in each of the previous World Cup games against India and has a variety of alternatives against spin.  However, India secured his reverse sweep with a well-placed short third man and denied him any releases.

Mitchell struggled to take Kuldeep off the hand before being put out of his agony by the left-arm wrist-spinner, who had missed a legspinner and was wearing it on his pads near the stumps.

It was a trademark of India's spinners that they rarely left the stumps, even on a turning track, ensuring that the LBW remained a popular mode of removal, with up to four middle-order hitters stuck in front of the stumps.  Tom Latham missed a reverse sweep against Ravindra Jadeja, while Varun dismissed Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell, though the latter could have survived with a review.

At the other end, Williamson attempted to hold the chase together and benefited from three dropped catches, two of which came from KL Rahul behind the wickets.  With the asking rate rising sharply, he decided to take on Axar but was duped in the flight and was stumped for a leisurely 120-ball 81.  It ended New Zealand's hopes and allowed Varun to add two more lower-order wickets for a well-deserved five-wicket haul.

Before Varun's headline-grabbing efforts in the ring of fire, it was a fast bowler, Matt Henry, who returned identical figures (5 for 42) after New Zealand chose to chase and proved to be the scourge of the Indian top-order once more, as he had been in that (in)famous World Cup semifinal at Old Trafford six years earlier.  After first bowling short of a fair length, the seamer pushed one ball further up and beat Shubman Gill on the shuffle to catch the in-form hitter LBW.

Fresh off a century, Virat Kohli was eager to test Henry's lengths and even managed to draw a short and wide ball. Still, his cut shot found a flying Phillips, who matched, if not bettered, his effort to catch Mohammad Rizwan earlier in the tournament.  Captain Rohit Sharma mistimed an attempted pull to a leaping midwicket between them.

India was 30-for-3.  The last time they were three down for 46 or fewer runs after 15 overs was six years ago, in that historic Manchester game.  On that occasion, the joining of a left-right pair provided some alleviation. 

Axar, who batted at No. 5, teamed up with Shreyas Iyer to get the innings back on track.  The partnership started slowly, going up to 51 balls without a boundary.  At one point, Axar had batted 24 balls for five runs before timing a sweep off Michael Bracewell for four.

Interestingly, Bracewell battled with his distances and found little joy on a surface that provided more to him than those in Pakistan.  In his defense, some were due to how Iyer pressed forward while facing him as if he was about to step out, only to rock back and select the bounds.

Iyer also hit three boundaries off a William O'Rourke over as India's score edged above 100 in the 25th over.  He was ably assisted by Axar, who handled New Zealand's spinners admirably.

Iyer reached a critical 75-ball half-century, continuing his outstanding record against New Zealand in ODIs -- six 50-plus hits in eight innings.  However, as in the previous game played here, batters struggled to get off to a good start, and the conclusion of the 98-run partnership was a disappointment for India.  Axar fell for 42 after paddling a catch to the short fine-leg.

Iyer & KL  Rahul put on another fast stand for the fifth wicket, but his insistence on going for the short ball proved costly, as a third top-edged pull found a fielder, ending his magnificent knock on 79.  Rahul soon followed suit, being outfoxed by a crisp turner from Mitchell Santner that found his edge on the way to the keeper.

At 182 for 6 in the 40th over, India faced the risk of not completing their full quota of overs.  However, Hardik Pandya played a key 45-run innings lower down the order, forming a 41-run partnership with Jadeja. Henry also terminated that stand with aid from a flying backward point fielder and Williamson, the acrobat, who sent Jadeja back.  Henry added two more wickets in the final over to complete a five-wicket haul, but his efforts were overshadowed on the night.