"They had another outstanding tournament": Ricky Ponting lauds New Zealand's performance in Champions Trophy 2025

New Delhi [India], March 13 (ANI): ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting hailed New Zealand's performance in the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where they fell short of clinching the title as they lost to India in the final, which was played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 9, as reported by ICC review.
A swift half-century from skipper Rohit Sharma, a fine knock by Shreyas Iyer, and good spells from spinners, in particular Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, helped an all-round India seal their third ICC Champions Trophy title, beating New Zealand by four wickets in Dubai.
Speaking to Crystal Arnold on the latest edition of The ICC Review after the final, Ponting said, "I don't think it (New Zealand's campaign) went wrong at all. I think they had another outstanding tournament. They were brilliant right the way through. I was asked at the start of the tournament who I thought the final four would be, and as soon as you start talking about top fours for ICC events, you just have to put New Zealand in it, because they just always do it."
"I didn't do it this time because I thought Pakistan would make it being at home, and I thought South Africa would make it. So I didn't have New Zealand there, and sure enough, there they are again. What a dominant performance it was against South Africa in their semi-final to make it through to the final. You probably can't play a better game of one-day cricket than that. To bat first and make 360-odd, I think it's the highest total ever in a Champions Trophy game," the former Australia skipper added.
The 50-year-old went on to applaud the exploits of Matt Henry, who missed out on the final, owing to an injury, closing the tournament as the leading wicket-taker.
"They just came up against a really good team in the final, and they weren't far away. India won in the 49th or 50th over. They haven't done a lot wrong. That's without some of their stars actually performing in that final. And that's without Matt Henry being fit in that final as well. He was their leading wicket-taker going into it. So they've had a great campaign. If they keep putting themselves there, it's only a matter of time before they will (win an ICC tournament)," the former right-hand batter continued.
Another prominent member of the Black Caps squad was Glenn Phillips, who contributed to all three facets of the game, especially making stunning catches in the field.
A prime fielder for Australia back in the day himself, Ponting praised the New Zealander's fielding and believes he's in the upper echelons of the department with some of the very best.
"If you put the highlights reel together, his is now probably better than anyone. He hasn't played anywhere near as many games as Herschelle Gibbs, (AB) de Villiers, Andrew Symonds or Paul Collingwood, these guys that were always known as being the great fielders. (Ravindra) Jadeja is another one," the former World Cup-winning player said.
Ponting then delved into the technical aspects of Phillips' work.
"But his agility is something that is just unbelievable. His ability to launch himself for catches, and a lot of them are one-handers as well, so it's not just the agility, but you've still got to hang on to the ball, you've got to catch it," Ponting added.
Picking his favourite off Phillips's highlights reel at the Champions Trophy, Ponting added, "I saw a quote before saying that he thought that catch in the final (that of Shubman Gill) was his best. I don't think that was as good as the Kohli one (last group game against India), to be honest.
"I watched that catch a few times, I actually think he could have got that with two hands, and that made that probably look a bit more spectacular than it needed to be, but some of his other catches, I mean, they're unbelievably good. I've seen it in Test cricket as well. He's taken some in Test cricket in that same area at backward point, the former cricketer concluded. (ANI)