New Zealand started the Champions Trophy 2025 with a statement win, beating Pakistan by 60 runs under lights at the National Stadium in Karachi. A measured, disciplined batting effort led by Will Young and captain Tom Latham pushed the total to 320/5, and a sharp, well-drilled bowling unit closed the door on Pakistan’s chase at 260 in 47.2 overs. It was New Zealand’s fourth straight win over Pakistan in one-day meetings, and it felt every bit as controlled as the scoreline suggests.
How the match unfolded
Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and chose to bowl first, trusting his attack to exploit any early movement. New Zealand were patient. They played within themselves in the first powerplay, kept dots to a minimum, and forced Pakistan to alter lengths. The slow burn worked. Will Young, who kept his place with Rachin Ravindra not fit enough to start, settled quickly and picked off singles with crisp timing before opening up through the covers. He reached a confident 107, his first century outside New Zealand, the kind of knock that changes a player’s tournament.
At the other end, Tom Latham did what good captains do in big events: he absorbed pressure, then dictated terms. Latham reached his hundred in 95 balls, mixing busy running with clean hitting when Pakistan missed their lengths. He milked the spinners, protected his wicket, and kept New Zealand’s tempo steady. That control mattered later, because it set up Glenn Phillips to cut loose.
Phillips arrived with the platform set and smashed 61 off 39 balls. He went hard at anything short, used the crease smartly, and turned a good total into a winning one. By the end of 50 overs, New Zealand had five down, plenty left in the tank, and 320 on the board—exactly the kind of target that forces chasing sides to take risks earlier than they want to.
Pakistan’s bowling never settled into a sustained rhythm. There were decent overs, but not enough of them in a row. The lines drifted, the lengths sat up, and the fielders had to do a lot of fetching. When Pakistan tried to squeeze with spin in the middle overs, Latham and Young kept finding gaps. When the quicks went short at the death, Phillips punished them. Rizwan’s call at the toss looked brave at the start; by the interval it looked like a gamble that had not paid off.
Chasing 321, Pakistan needed a strong, no-drama start. They didn’t get it. Early dots created pressure, and the asking rate crept up. Fakhar Zaman’s injury during the chase made matters worse, disrupting the top-order flow and forcing a rethink on the run. Babar Azam and Khushdil Shah both fought through to fifties, showing patience and class, but wickets kept falling around them.
New Zealand’s bowlers read the surface better. William O’Rourke hit the deck at pace, kept good channels, and claimed three wickets that broke the chase open. Mitchell Santner did what he always does well in white-ball cricket: he dragged the game into his pace, varied his flight just enough, and choked scoring options through the middle. He also took three, and each one seemed to arrive just when Pakistan were threatening to stitch a partnership together.
By the time the game moved into the last 10 overs, Pakistan needed too much from too few. Boundaries dried up, risks went up, and the final wickets followed. The innings ended in the 48th over, 60 short of the mark.
What it means and the big talking points
New Zealand’s plan was clear: bank a solid platform, attack later, and defend with discipline. The selection call that mattered most was Young’s inclusion. With Ravindra not fully ready, Young grabbed his chance and then some. His 107 was not just about runs; it was about tempo. He left well, ran hard, and forced Pakistan to rethink their fields, which in turn freed Latham to play his natural game.
Latham’s captaincy stood out. He held his shape in the middle overs when Pakistan pushed, trusted Santner to work through a long spell, and used O’Rourke in short, punchy bursts to target new batters. The fielding backed it up—sharp angles, quick relay throws, and calm catching. Nothing flashy, just tidy cricket that kept Pakistan under the pump.
Pakistan have more questions than answers from this one. The decision to bowl first in Karachi under lights can work, but only if the new ball bites or the middle overs stay tight. Neither happened for long enough. The pace attack could not stitch together dot-ball pressure, and when they missed their marks at the death, Phillips cashed in. With the bat, the start was too slow to sustain a late charge. Babar and Khushdil gave the chase a heartbeat, but the lack of a lasting top-order stand left them chasing the game.
Fakhar’s injury interruption did not help. It forced a reshuffle on the fly and cost Pakistan overs of settled batting. In tournaments, those little disruptions snowball: the asking rate climbs, middle-order hitters have to take high-risk options, and opposition captains can set attacking fields without fear of leaks.
From a tournament lens, New Zealand pick up more than two points—they pocket a handy net run-rate boost, which often decides semi-final places in an eight-team event. With two groups of four, every mistake gets amplified. A win like this gives the Black Caps breathing room for the tougher, scrappier days that are sure to come.
For Pakistan, the path is still open, but the margin for error is slimmer. They will look at their new-ball plans, consider how to free up their middle overs with the bat, and decide whether to tweak the balance between pace and spin in Karachi conditions. The quick turnaround in these events means decisions arrive fast; so must the fixes.
Conditions played their part, but only in the margins. The surface held together across both innings, and there was no dramatic swing in behavior as the lights took hold. That puts the focus back on execution: New Zealand nailed theirs, Pakistan didn’t.
The head-to-head trend matters, too. Four straight wins give New Zealand a psychological edge if these sides meet again later in the tournament. It also hardens Pakistan’s challenge: breaking a streak requires either a bolder plan or better basics, and ideally both.
Key numbers tell the story without fuss: New Zealand 320/5 in 50 overs; Will Young 107; Tom Latham a hundred reached in 95 balls; Glenn Phillips 61 off 39; Pakistan 260 in 47.2 overs; half-centuries to Babar Azam and Khushdil Shah; William O’Rourke and Mitchell Santner three wickets each. Stack those up, and the 60-run margin makes sense.
- Standout batter: Will Young, for turning an opening into authority with his first overseas ODI ton.
- Captain’s knock: Tom Latham, a hundred built on strike rotation and smart risk timing.
- Game-changer: Glenn Phillips’ late surge, which pushed the total beyond the safe zone.
- Bowling axis: William O’Rourke’s hard lengths up front and Mitchell Santner’s squeeze through the middle.
- Pakistan’s bright spots: Babar and Khushdil’s resistance amid a wobbling chase.
New Zealand leave Karachi with momentum, confidence, and a template that travels: bat long, finish hard, bowl straight, field clean. Pakistan leave with bruises but also clarity on where the gaps are. In short tournaments, both are valuable—one shows you what works; the other shows you what to fix. The next round will reveal who learns faster.
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