Cricket fans in Punjab, Haryana celebrate as India win third Champions Trophy title

Chandigarh, Mar 9 (PTI) Cricket fans on Sunday night broke into celebrations, dancing enthusiastically and waved the tricolour on the streets of Chandigarh and several places in Punjab and Haryana as India defeated New Zealand to win the Champions Trophy title.

Skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front with an excellent half-century as a resolute India held their nerve to win an unprecedented third Champions Trophy title with a four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final in Dubai.

At many places in Chandigarh, fans came out on roads, hailing Team India's victory.

Many hotels and restaurants had installed big TV screens to enable people to catch the live action from Dubai.

Several fans gathered at Sectors 22 and 17 here to celebrate the mega victory.

"It was a closely fought game which kept everyone to the edge of their seats, but we knew Indian team would come out victorious and they did so in the end," said Ajay Kumar, a cricket fan.

Fans celebrated the Indian team victory at many places in Punjab and Haryana including Mohali, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala, Gurugram, Panchkula, Faridabad and Sonipat.

A large crowd danced to the beats of drums on many streets.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini also hailed the Indian cricket team for winning the ICC Champions Trophy.

"The champions of Team India have performed brilliantly and won the 'Champions Trophy' by defeating New Zealand," Saini posted on X in Hindi.

"Today the whole of India is painted in the color of victory, congratulations to all and best wishes to the players of Team India. This proud victory has filled the whole nation with enthusiasm, excitement and colours," Saini said in his post congratulating the Indian cricket team.

Bowling first after Rohit lost his 12th straight toss, India's spinners restricted New Zealand to 251 for seven in the allotted 50 overs, with Kuldeep Yadav (2/40) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/45) making significant contributions with the ball.

India completed the chase of 252 with six balls to spare after Rohit (76 off 83 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (48 off 62 balls) shone with the bat.

While chasing, India faced some anxious moments when they lost two wickets after being well paced at 183 for three after 38 years, but KL Rahul (34 not out off 33 balls) showed great composure to see his team through after Hardik Pandya's breezy 18-run knock.

India won the trophy without losing a match, reflecting their dominance.

India's previous title triumphs in the tournament came in 2002 and 2013. No other team has won the event thrice. PTI SUN NB NB