- In the opening match of the Champions Trophy 2025, New Zealand (PAK vs NZ) made a great start to the tournament by defeating host Pakistan by 60 runs. In this match, Will Young and Tom Latham scored brilliant centuries, while Khushdil also played a heart-winning inning from Pakistan’s side.
PAK vs NZ: In the Champions Trophy 2025 being played in Pakistan, host Pakistan had to face a crushing defeat in the first match. In this match played at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi, the Kiwis won a strong victory of 60 runs against the Green Army. In this match, New Zealand, batting first, scored 320 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs with the help of brilliant centuries from Will Young and Tom Latham, in response to which entire Pakistan was all out for 260 runs. After this defeat, the way forward may be a bit difficult for Pakistan.
Young-Latham hit a century
Source: ESPNCricinfo
In the opening match of the Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan (PAK vs NZ) captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and invited New Zealand to bat first. In this match, the Kiwi team lost its first two wickets within 40 runs.
Pakistan mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed dismissed in-form batsman Devon Conway (10) with a score of 39, while former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson also returned to the pavilion after scoring just 1 run. Williamson was made his victim by Naseem Shah. After this, openers Will Young and Daryl Mitchell together tried to handle the Black Caps’ innings, but Daryl Mitchell was also out on a personal score of 10 in an attempt to play a big shot off Haris Rauf’s ball on a score of 73.
After this, Test Captain Tom Latham and Will Young slowly took the innings forward. Both added 118 runs for the fifth wicket, but Naseem Shah ended Will Young’s innings by scoring 107 runs in 113 balls. After this, Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips scored fast and took New Zealand close to 300. While Latham scored 118 runs in 104 balls in this match, Glenn Phillips batted in a dashing manner and scored 61 runs in 39 balls. New Zealand is successful in scoring 320 runs in 50 overs.
Pakistan’s bowling flopped
The decision of Pakistani (PAK vs NZ) captain Mohammad Rizwan to bowl first after winning the toss proved wrong. In this match, the performance of experienced fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf was very disappointing. While Shaheen Afridi conceded 68 runs in his quota of 10 overs, fast bowler Haris Rauf conceded 83 runs in 10 overs at an economy of 8.30. During this, he got two wickets. At the same time, Naseem Shah also took two wickets for 63 runs in 10 overs. Khushdil Shah took 40 runs in 7 overs and Abrar Ahmed took 1 wicket for 47 runs in 10 overs.
Apart from Khushdil and Salman Aga, no one could show excellence in batting
Pakistan (PAK vs NZ), which came out to chase 321 runs, also had a very bad start. In the fourth over of Pakistan’s innings, Saud Shakeel returned to the pavilion after scoring 9 runs off 19 balls. After this, captain Mohammad Rizwan got caught by Glenn Phillips while trying to cut the ball of Kiwi fast bowler William O’Rourke. Phillips caught this catch of the captain with one hand, after which it is praised everywhere. At the same time, former captain Babar Azam got caught in Santner’s spin after scoring 64 runs off 90 balls.
At one point, half of Pakistan’s (PAK vs NZ) team returned to the pavilion at 128. However, Khushdil Shah, who came to bat at number seven, played some heart-winning shots, but he could not get his team across the threshold of victory. Khushdil played brilliant innings of 69 runs in 49 balls, which included 10 fours and a six. However, after Khushdil’s dismissal, Pakistan’s hopes of victory were also shattered and the entire Pak team was reduced to 260 runs and lost the match by 60 runs.
New Zealand won their first match by 60 runs
After losing the toss against Pakistan and opting to bat first, New Zealand’s Will Young and captain Tom Latham laid the foundation for New Zealand’s victory by scoring stormy centuries. Ultimately, the bowlers also played a brilliant role and put in all their effort to achieve this victory. They handed Pakistan a crushing defeat by 60 runs in the first match at their home ground.