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

Pakistan vs New Zealand, Champions Trophy LIVE SCORE: Khushdil Shah has smashed 50 in 37 balls

Pakistan vs New Zealand, Champions Trophy LIVE SCORE: Pakistan's top order batters could not get any momentum chasing 321, with their run rate hardly ever going above 3 in the first 25 overs, and ended up losing the opening match of the 2025 Champions Trophy to New Zealand by 60 runs. This is New Zealand's fourth consecutive ODI win in Pakistan and all of them have been straightforward victories. The Kiwis have thus firmly establish themselves among the favourites to win the trophy.

Babar Azam took a whopping 81 balls to reach fifty runs and played out 49 dot balls in that period. Salman Ali Agha gave them a semblance of momentum at the other end but he perished on 42 off 28 balls.

Fakhar Zaman was earlier batting on one leg and couldn't run at all. New Zealand made the most of the situation by bowling spinners with the pace entirely off. Fakhar looked ready to go off the field at one point after crumpling down on the ground in the follow through of a slog sweep. However, he has soldiered on but his inabilty to run is not helping Pakistan one bit.

Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel earlier opened for Pakistan, with Fakhar only being able to take the field 20 minutes into their innings due to the fact that he was out for large parts of New Zealand's knock in the first match of the Champions Trophy in Karachi. Shakeel couldn't last long enough to make Fakhar eligible to bat and perished against Will O'Rourke in the fourth over. Pakistan are chasing a target of 321 with Tom Latham's unbeaten 118 off 104 balls, Will Young's 107 off 113 and Glenn Phillips' 61 off 39 taking New Zealand to a score of 320/5.

Latham breezed past a century in 95 balls as he and Phillips unleashed the big shots towards the end of New Zealand's innings. The Kiwis scored at well over 11 runs an over between the 40th and 50th overs.

Young earlier fell to Naseem Shah in the 38th over and that brought to an end a colossal knock from the opener who is playing in the first match of the Champions Trophy against Pakistan due to an injury to Rachin Ravindra. He scored 107 in 113 balls in Karachi, having gone past 100 in 107 balls. Young's partnership with Tom Latham produced 118 runs in 126 balls. The latter himself scored a half-century for the second consecutive time in ODIs and has the dangerous Glenn Phillips at the other end.

Young played an almost chanceless knock to bring up his fourth ODI century. While New Zealand were shaky for much of the first half of their innings, Young has struck up a strong partnership with Tom Latham which seems to have left Pakistan bereft of ideas in the middle overs. Latham himself is now approaching his half-century. Young has once again shown his value as he opened the innings for New Zealand in place of the injured Rachin Ravindra.

A see-saw start to the match

New Zealand lost wickets at regular intervals for much of the first half of their innings. They were off to a fast start but they were suddenly rattled in the seventh and eighth overs with Abrar Ahmed and Naseem Shah sending back Devon Conway and Kane Williamson respectively. Mohammad Rizwan won the toss in the first match against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy, opting to chase as he put in the Kiwis to bat first in Karachi. Haris Rauf was judged fit, but Rachin Ravindra misses out. Fakhar Zaman appeared to hurt himself early and was off the field for a few overs. He is now back though and seems as fit as ever.