Champions Trophy
\nKhushdil Shah remains top scorer from Pakistan with 69 runs followed by Babar Azam\u2019s 64
\n karachi
\nNew Zealand grabbed a 60-run victory against Pakistan with contribution of Will O\u2019Rourke\u2019s three and Mitchell Santner\u2019s two in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 played at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi, on Wednesday.
\nPakistani batters struggled to stabilise their side as New Zealand bowlers kept failing the hosts\u2019 bid to chase a massive 321-run target.
\nThe Men in Green lost six wickets with the dismissal of Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha, and well-set Babar Azam after the hosts crossed the score of 150 runs.
\nVice captain Agha showed some resistance by scoring 42 runs of 28 balls, however, he caught by Bracewell during Nathan Smith\u2019s over.
\nAfter Agha\u2019s dismissal, Tayyab Tahir came in to take charge, however, his innings concluded at just one run by Mitchell Santner in 32nd over.
\nBefore Pakistan could recover from the back-to-back fall of wickets, Santner got the important wicket of Azam who scored 64 off 90 balls, further shrinking the chances of the hosts to chase the target.
\nAlongside Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi added 14 runs to the scoreboard, however, he fell prey to Matt Henry in 41st over.
\nEarlier, New Zealand struck early against Pakistan as Will O\u2019Rourke sent opener Saud Shakeel (6) and skipper Mohammad Rizwan (3) back to the pavilion. Azam and Shakeel opened the innings instead of Zaman as latter required 20 minutes due to his time off the field. According to the PCB, Zaman was being assessed and examined for muscular sprain.
\nHowever, the openers failed to extend their stand as Shakeel (6) was sent back to the pavilion by Will O\u2019Rourke during the fourth over.
\nEarlier, New Zealand set a massive target of 321 runs against Pakistan with the help of Young, Tom tons.
\nPut into bat first, the Blackcaps registered 320\/5 on the board in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to a match-defining fourth-wicket partnership between Young and Latham.
\nThe visitors, however, got off to a shaky start to their innings as mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed inflicted an early blow by castling Devon Conway (10) on the third delivery of the eighth over.
\nNew Zealand suffered two more blows in quick succession as pacers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf picked up the key wickets of Kane Williamson (one) and Daryl Mitchell (10), bringing the total down to 73\/3 in 16.2 overs.
\nFollowing the slump, wicketkeeper batter Latham, who scored a match-winning half-century in the tri-nation ODI series final last week, joined set batter Young in the middle.
\nThe duo partnered strongly to put New Zealand in a commanding position by adding 118 runs for the fourth wicket.
\nNaseem eventually broke the threatening partnership in the 38th over by getting rid of centurion Young, who scored 107 off 113 deliveries, studded with 12 fours and a six.
\nLatham, on the other hand, stood his ground firm and carried his bat all the way through with an unbeaten century.
\nHe remained the top-scorer for New Zealand with an unbeaten 118 off 104 deliveries with 10 fours and three sixes.
\nHe was supported by in-form Glenn Phillips, who smashed a quickfire half-century to push New Zealand to amass the 320-run mark.
\nPhillips made 61 from 39 deliveries, laced with three fours and four sixes.
\nFor Pakistan, Naseem and Rauf picked up two wickets each, while Abrar Ahmed chipped in with one dismissal.
\nPresident Asif Ali Zardari and First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari attended the opening match as the chief guests.
\nThe event also featured an aerial display by the Pakistan Air Force\u2019s Sherdil Squadron.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Champions Trophy Khushdil Shah remains top scorer from Pakistan with 69 runs followed by Babar Azam\u2019s 64 karachi New Zealand grabbed a 60-run victory against Pakistan with contribution of Will O\u2019Rourke\u2019s three and Mitchell Santner\u2019s two in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 played at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi, on Wednesday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-462534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n