On February 19, the National Stadium in Karachi hosted the opening game of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. When Pakistan faced New Zealand, Mohammad Rizwan, the captain of the home team, won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Tom Latham top-scored with 118* with 10 fours and 3 sixes, while Will Young made 107 with 12 fours and 1 six, the tournament's first century. The fireworks in the last few overs came from Glenn Phillips, who scored 61 in 39 balls with three fours and four sixes.
In 50 overs, New Zealand scored 320/5. Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah both claimed two wickets for Pakistan.
The response from Pakistan was very bizarre as after Saud Shakeel fell for 6 runs, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam added 14 runs as Pakistan made 22/2 in 10 overs. Fakhar Zaman made 24 in 41, and Salman Agha tried to up the ante with 42 in 28 balls.
The most worrying knock was played by Babar Azam, who made 64 in 90 balls with 6 fours and 1 six at a strike rate of 71.11, playing 52 dot balls. He fell with the score of 153/6 and then Khushdil Shah entered and began reducing the deficit as he smoked 69 in 49 balls with 10 fours and 1 six.
The tail also wagged a little as Pakistan was bowled out for 260 runs and lost the game by 60 runs. For New Zealand, Will O’Rourke and Mitchell Santner took three wickets each, while Matt Henry took 2 wickets. New Zealand pocketed two important 2 points with this win.
Tom Latham was given the Player of the Match for his 118*.
The cricket fraternity reacted to a clinical win by New Zealand, buoyed by centuries from Young and Latham and brilliant bowling by O’Rourke and Santner.
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