Pakistan will host New Zealand in the opening game of the Champions Trophy 2025 at the National Stadium in Karachi. The Men in Green suffered defeats in both games against New Zealand in the recently concluded tri-nation tournament and will be under some pressure heading towards their first game. The Black Caps, who won the tri-nation tournament, will be much more relaxed as things have worked well for them so far, despite several key players missing.
For New Zealand, former captain Kane Williamson had a terrific outing, scoring 225 runs in three matches, which included a century against South Africa and a half-century against Pakistan in the league stage. Among bowlers, Will O’Rourke was stunning, clinching six, while Matt Henry picked five. Meanwhile, ace pacer Lockie Ferguson failed to recover in time and has been ruled out of the marquee tournament.
Mohammad Rizwan, on the other hand, confirmed that Babar Azam will be opening the batting alongside Fakhar Zaman. The star Pakistan batter had a difficult time with the bat recently, but the team management is backing him to score runs in the Champions Trophy. Apart from that, Rizwan has been in good form, while Salman Agha can prove to be a difference-maker. Among bowlers, the onus will once again fall on Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.
National Stadium Pitch Report:
The surface at the National Stadium in Karachi will heavily favour the batters. It is usually a flat deck, where scoring runs is much easier. Bowling first will be the ideal thing to do as dew can play a part in the second innings of the game. The spinners can get some help from the surface but only after the ball turns relatively old.
National Stadium, Karachi - The ODI Numbers Game
Matches Pakistan Played - 49
Matches Pakistan Won - 26
Matches Pakistan Lost - 21
Matches New Zealand played - 09
Matches New Zealand Won - 05
Matches New Zealand Lost - 04
Highest Team Innings - 374/4 (India) vs Hong Kong
Lowest Team Innings - 115/10 (Bangladesh) vs Pakistan
Full squads:
Pakistan Squad: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Khan, Saud Shakeel
New Zealand Squad: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, William ORourke, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Mark Chapman, Rachin Ravindra