The start of the Champions Trophy 2025 was very bad for Pakistan. In the first match played at the National Stadium in Karachi, New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 60 runs. Batting first, New Zealand scored a big score of 320/5 in 50 overs. The heroes of this strong innings were Will Young (107 runs, 113 balls) and Tom Latham (118 runs, 104 balls), who scored brilliant centuries.
Chasing the target of 320 runs, Pakistan's team was all out for 260 runs in 47.2 overs. The Kiwi bowlers tightened the screws on Pakistan's batting from the beginning. William O'Rourke (3/39) and Mitchell Santner (3/66) rattled Pakistan's top order. With this defeat, Pakistan's title hopes suffered a major setback, especially when the match was being played in front of the home crowd, who saw the ICC tournament return to their country after 29 years.
Pakistan's slow start and shattered innings
Pakistan's start was very poor. Openers Saud Shakeel and Babar Azam struggled to score runs. Saud had to open unexpectedly, as Fakhar Zaman was injured during fielding and could not bat immediately as per the rules.
Soon, William O'Rourke gave Pakistan the first blow by dismissing Saud Shakeel (6 runs, 19 balls). After this, captain Mohammad Rizwan came out to bat at number three, but he too was dismissed for only 3 runs. Glenn Phillips took a brilliant catch of him, which reduced Pakistan to 22/2 in 10 overs.
Fakhar Zaman came out to bat despite injury, but he did not look in rhythm. His slow batting increased Pakistan's run rate marginally, but New Zealand kept the pressure on. Fakhar scored 24 runs and was bowled out by Michael Bracewell. After this, the pair of Babar Azam and Salman Agha came to the crease. Salman scored a blazing 42 off 28 balls, but it was not enough to chase down a big target.
Babar Azam's slow innings was the reason for the defeat?
Babar Azam completed his half-century, but due to scoring 50 runs in 80 balls, questions were raised about his innings. After his dismissal, Khushdil Shah reduced the margin of defeat by scoring 69 runs in 49 balls, but could not win.
New Zealand's strong batting
Earlier, New Zealand made a spectacular comeback despite the initial setbacks while batting. Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed took the first wicket in the 8th over by dismissing Devon Conway (10 runs). After this, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf sent Kane Williamson (1) and Daryl Mitchell (10) to the pavilion early, which led to New Zealand's score of 73/3 in 16.2 overs.
After this, Tom Latham and Will Young took over the team with a brilliant partnership of 118 runs. Latham scored 118 runs in 104 balls, which included 10 fours and 3 sixes. At the same time, Glenn Phillips scored 61 runs in 39 balls to take New Zealand's score to 320.
Now it has become necessary for Pakistan to perform tremendously in the next matches to stay alive in the tournament.