New Zealand triumphs over hosts Pakistan in ICC Champions Trophy opener.
The ICC Champions Trophy has started, and the inaugural match was played between New Zealand and the host nation, Pakistan, in Karachi.
Match Details
The first match was on February 19th at the National Stadium, Karachi.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first.
New Zealand Innings
Will Young and Devon Conway opened the innings for the Kiwis.
They both started slow but were trying to go on as Abrar Ahmed bowled Devon, giving the Black Caps their first breakthrough.
Kane Williamson came in to bat, and in the next over, he lost his wicket to Naseem Shah.
Daryl Mitchell came in to bat, and he also soon lost his wicket to Haris Rauf.
Meanwhile, Will completed his half-century, and Tom Latham started to support him.
They both started to build a crucial partnership for New Zealand as Will completed his century.
Naseem Shah broke their partnership as he took the wicket of Will.
Glenn came in to bat as Tom completed his half-century, and Glenn started to showcase his power hitting.
Soon Tom completed his century, and Glenn completed his half-century, and with their knocks, New Zealand made a total of 320 runs for the loss of five wickets.
Pakistan Innings
Saud Shakeel and Babar Azam opened the innings for Pakistan.
Will O’Rourke didn’t let them settle as he soon took the wicket of Saud.
Mohammad Rizwan came in to bat, and he also soon lost his wicket.
Babar kept on going from one end as he completed his half-century but wickets kept on falling from the other end.
Salman, in between, handled the innings but wasn’t able to convert his score into big runs.
Khushdil Shah, in the end, played a good knock of 69 runs, but those weren’t enough to make them win the match.
They lost all their wickets at a total of just 260 runs.
Will O’Rourke and Mitchell Santner took three wickets each and Matt Henry took two wickets.
Pakistan lost the match by 60 runs, as their next game will be a decider against India.
The Champions Trophy starts with a win! Wickets shared across Will O’Rourke (3-47), Mitchell Santner (3-66), Matt Henry (2-25), Nathan Smith (1-20) and Michael Bracewell (1-38) to bowl the hosts out for 240. Catch up on all scores | https://t.co/0pC37HtJtv 📲 #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/rLMx9MUZKn
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 19, 2025