Pakistan vs New Zealand, Champions Trophy Highlights: PAK thrashed by 60 runs, all but knocked out already

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: Babar has developed into something of an emergency opener for Pakistan cricket in recent months, asked to move around the order after his poor form of late made him less of a sure-shot in the middle order. With some question marks over the opening positions, Babar will likely be elevated to open the batting with Fakhar — both amongst the teams finest batters, but also slightly rusty due to differing reasons. Can they put it all together in time at the CT?

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: After over a year in the wilderness due to some personal friction with the PCB, Fakhar Zaman received a last-minute call back into Pakistan’s team for the Champions Trophy after Ayub’s injury and Abdullah Shafique’s historic three ducks in three matches in the recent ODI series in South Africa.

The CT of 2017, of course, is where Fakhar made a name for himself, scoring half-centuries in Pakistan’s must-win games to reach the finals, before putting India to the sword with his maiden ODI century in a brutal display of hitting.

Fakhar opened during the tri-series, seeing a return to his favoured opening position from number four, where Pakistan great Wasim Akram felt Pakistan were ‘ruining themselves’ by playing him out of position.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: The Kiwis already have a good idea of how to beat Pakistan, having done so twice in the tri-series, once while batting first and again while chasing. More than that, both wins were achieved in dominant fashion, which will be of the greater concern to Pakistan, who were otherwise in pretty good form heading into the Champions Trophy.

Pakistan will be hoping for third time’s the charm for themselves, while New Zealand will back themselves to make it a hat-trick, especially with batters who are as tournament-comfortable as Kane Williamson. For the visiting team, however, it might come down to if an inexperienced bowling attack can find its legs in a big tournament.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: The Champions Trophy format is as unforgiving as it gets. Think back to 2023 ODI World Cup champions Australia, who lost their first two matches of the league stage. No such second-chances here: two losses and you’re done, outside of a mathematical anomaly.

Pakistan will not want to head into the rivalry match against India on Sunday already one loss down, which would only add even more pressure to that crucial game in Dubai. India won’t mind it though — a chance to knock out their fierce rivals in their own home tournament? Yes please, many will be thinking.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: Big-name injuries have been unnaturally common leading into this tournament, with practically every team missing at least one very important player. For Pakistan, as mentioned, it’s Saim Ayub and potentially Haris Rauf, while for the Kiwis, it’s a pace attack with slightly less juice as Ben Sears and now Lockie Ferguson are forced to sit out.

Could this be a tournament defined as much by the players who aren’t there as by those that are? Let’s hope not.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: In preparation for hosting the Champions Trophy, Pakistan wanted their stadiums to be as cutting-edge as possible in time for the tournament. The Gaddafi Stadium in particular underwent major renovations, but there were also improvements made to the National Stadium in Karachi, which will prepare to host the opening game of this tournament with an improved 30,000 capacity and new floodlights.

After some criticisms as Rachin Ravindra was struck in Lahore by a ball, the PCB held its ground, and will now want the tournament to go seamlessly, in particular at their home venues, as they look to make Pakistan a destination for high-stakes cricket in the future.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: As the Champions Trophy has evolved from the rules of one new ball to two, freedom in fielding restrictions and the introduction of the Powerplay, bowling hasn't been easy over time, but certain players have made it look easy. New Zealand bowlers need to look up to Kyle Mills, who, with 28 wickets, is the leading wicket-taker in the history of the Champions Trophy. He is, in fact, ahead of some of the biggest and most legendary names this game has ever seen – Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath. Who would have thought, eh?

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: Pakistan and New Zealand played their first-ever ODIs way back in 1973, even before the first-ever World Cup. Since then, the two teams have faced each other 118 times, with Pakistan enjoying a slender lead – 61 to wins to New Zealand's 53. In the Champions Trophy, though, Pakistan and New Zealand have squared off thrice, and guess what? The BlackCaps have won all three of them. Will Pakistan make history tonight? New Zealand beat them in both matches of the recently concluded tri-series, so they definitely have the mental edge. But one thing you know about Pakistan that they can surprise out of nowhere.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: It's taken 29 years. Nearly three decades, but Pakistan cricket has reasons to be happy. They are hosting an ICC tournament for the first time since the 1996 World Cup. World cricket's top 7 ODI teams will visit the country to play some top-quality cricket – barring India. When the Lahore terror attacks unfolded in 2009, causing loss of lives and injuring several Sri Lankan cricketers, that seemed to be it for cricket in Pakistan. For years, their team shifted base to Dubai until, in 2015, Zimbabwe toured Pakistan. It has taken efforts beyond words for Pakistan to reach this stage today. In between, there were scares. New Zealand abandoned their tour in 2021, citing security threats. But to have risen from there and put all doubts to rest is a testament to PCB, Pakistan, and its cricket commitment.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: Ahead of the return of the Champions Trophy, we go down memory lane to have a look at some of the OG GOATS of the Champions Trophy. For a tournament whose origins can be dated back to the 19th century, the who’s who of cricketers have left their impression over the years. As surprising as it may be, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who is right up there on the list of almost every batting record, is not even among the top five leading run-scorers in the Champions Trophy. In fact, right at the top is Chris Gayle, with Mahela Jayawardene taking the second position. There are, however, two Indians in the top five: Shikhar Dhawan and Sourav Ganguly.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: Saim Ayub's injury is a big blow for Pakistan. There are no two ways about it. But all is not lost. Ever since Mohammad Rizwan took over as captain, Pakistan have punched above their weight. They beat Australia in Australia in November and, just last week, pulled off a sensational chase of 350-plus against South Africa. And with the tournament being held on their home turf, anything less than a place in the final promises to hurt Pakistan cricket really badly. Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman are two batters who need to shoulder most of the batting responsibilities. As does Rizwan. But the bowling is where Pakistan looks slightly jolted. There are concerns about Haris Rauf's fitness, while Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah haven't been at their best. But then again, who knows? This is Pakistan we are talking about.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: In the year 2000, New Zealand won the second edition of the Champions Trophy, beating India in the final. Since then, they have only won one ICC title – a wait that ended after 21 years when the BlackCaps won the first-ever World Test Championship. Who did they beat in the final? India… of course. But as big as that win was – and trust me, it was humongous, New Zealand has been denied a limited-overs ICC glory. They came close in the 2015 World Cup, then perilously close in 2019, but the trophy eluded them both times. Cut to 2025, they are high on confidence, having just won the tri-series in Pakistan. If there's one team that should be the favourite besides India, it has to be them.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: Oh you just had to be there as a cricket fan back in 2017. Pakistan, the unpredictables, well… pulled off a Pakistan, to say the least. After getting smashed by India in the league stage, no one gave them a chance to go all the way, let alone win the trophy. But if there's one thing you need to know about the Pakistan cricket team, it's never over until it's over. Look at the 1992 World Cup, the 2007 T20 World Cup, or the 2022 World Cup in Australia for example. Each time Pakistan were cornered initially, they clawed their way back into contention. Heading into the final as extreme underdogs, Pakistan dished out a brutal beating to India to emerge champions. The Men in Green, cladded in white, celebrating with the trophy, has to go down as one of the most iconic images in Pakistan cricket history.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: First held 27 years ago, the 1998 edition of the Champions Trophy featured all-Test-playing nations. It remains South Africa's only ICC title to date. Interestingly, the first two editions were knockouts before the tournament was ironed out into a more full-fledged format. India lost to New Zealand in the final in 2000 but were joint-winners two years later; however, the big surprise came in 2004, when West Indies beat England in the final to be crowned champions. Australia, the ever-so-dominant Aussies of the 2000s, ended their wait when they became back-to-back winners in 2006 and 2009 before India won its second crown under MS Dhoni in 2013 in England. They were on the verge of winning a third, but Pakistan ran them ragged in the final by 185 runs to clinch a famous win and their first ICC title in eight years.

Pakistan vs New Zealand LIVE Score: The day you'd been waiting for is finally here. The ICC Champions Trophy – once famously known as the mini-World Cup – starts today with hosts champions Pakistan taking on New Zealand. It's been a long wait. For Pakistan to host a major ICC event and for world cricket to finally see the return of the Champions Trophy after 8 long years. WOW! For the longest time, the future of the Champions Trophy was uncertain after the 2017 edition. Some said it was the last ever. Others even predicted a switch to the T20 format. However, despite all the speculation and uncertainty, the 50-over extravaganza is here. Well and truly alive, and what better way to set the cricketing season abuzz than the defending champions, the mercurial Pakistan team, giving the Karachi crowd all the more reasons to cheer.