WATCH: Matt Henry breaks down after getting ruled out of Champions Trophy final

It is the day of the Champions Trophy final, and there have already been some exciting moments on the field in the first innings, and there were some big decisions made by the team as well. One of the biggest decisions was made by the Kiwis, who had to make a forced change by replacing Matt Henry with Nathan Smith.

Matt Henry suffered a blow to the shoulder during the semi-final match against South Africa, which was, unfortunately enough to keep him out of the eleven in the final match against India. This is a big blow to the side as well since Henry was also their leading wicket-taker in the tournament as well. It will be big shoes to fill for Smith as well who will be playing his first match of the Champions Trophy 2025.

Though it will be disappointing for New Zealand, it was surely a tough pill to swallow for Matt Henry, who completely broke down and was distraught after missing out on the big game. The emotions could be felt by all the people as he was struggling during the practice session before the final and also had a great record against India as well. In the last match he played against the Men in Blue, he took an incredible five-wicket haul during the group stage game.

Watch the video below:

Sky Sports Cricket@SkyCricket

BREAKING: Matt Henry is OUT of the ICC Champions Trophy final with a shoulder injury 🚨

01:56 PM · Mar 09, 2025

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Kiwis put up a competitive total on the board 

The first innings has ended, and the New Zealand team has ended up putting on a total of 251 on the board. The stars with the bat were Daryl Mitchel, with a hard-fought half-century (63 off 101 deliveries) and Michael Bracewell, with his unbeaten quickfire knock (53* off 40 deliveries).

Speaking of the performance of the Men in Blue, though they were slightly rusty in the field, the spinners still did a tremendous job and pulled back the match a bit. Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja kept the batters quiet and took the majority of the wickets as well.