Bittersweet for New Zealand skipper Santner after another final loss

New Zealand captain Santner proud of team's effort in Champions Trophy despite bittersweet loss to India.

Skipper Mitchell Santner was proud of the way New Zealand went about their Champions Trophy campaign but was left with a bittersweet feeling after the Black Caps once again ended up on the losing side in a major global tournament.

New Zealand went down to India by four wickets in the title-decider in Dubai on Sunday (March 9, 2025), suffering a fourth loss in four short-format global finals over the last decade.

"It's starting to add up a bit now," Santner told reporters after the final.

“But if you make finals, you’re coming up against another pretty good team who’s also playing some good cricket.”

“I was proud with the way we fought tonight. I think we pride ourselves on not giving up, and I don’t think we did...”

“I guess it’s bittersweet. You always want to win one of these, and I don’t know how many more chances we’ll get, but this one was up there for us.,” he said.

"I think we were playing some good cricket leading into this, and we thought we were a real sniff today, but I guess we just got beaten by a good team," he added.