Pakistan face New Zealand in the opening game of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Karachi.
After a wait of eight years the ICC Champions Trophy returns with last times’ winners, Pakistan, turning hosts alongside the UAE. the tournament, which features the top eight sides from the last World Cup sees traditional powerhouses like Sri Lanka and the West Indies miss out on qualification with Bangladesh and Afghanistan making it into the mix.
Format:
Eight teams in two pools. The two top teams from each pool advance to the semis with the winner of those games playing in the final
Pool A: Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Pakistan
Pool B: Afghanistan, Australia, England, South Africa
Pakistan v New Zealand | Champions Trophy Game 1 | Wednesday 19 February 2025 | National Stadium, Karachi | 11:00am
Game 1: Pakistan v New Zealand
Here’s a game we have seen very recently – in fact twice last week these sides played each other in a tri-series that also featured South Africa. New Zealand won both encounters, and they won them both comfortably. They won the final by five wickets and the pool game by 78 runs.
The tournaments’ opening game is scheduled to be played at the National Stadium in Karachi, the same venue where last week’s final was played. In total there have been 56 ODI’s played at the National Stadium. There is no real difference between batting first or second in Karachi. There have been 26 instances of the side batting first winning and 28 of the side batting second winning. Two games ended with no result.
In terms of choices at toss time, on 32 occasions the winning skipper chose to bat, while 24 times they opted to field first.
Pakistan
Pakistan have played 49 games at the National Stadium, and they have won 26 of them. Their most recent game at the venue was last week’s record-breaking victory over South Africa.
Before last week Pakistan’s highest score at the National Stadium was 353 for six, a score they made against England in 2005. On Wednesday last week they posted a score of 355 for four as they smashed South Africa’s bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is Pakistan’s most potent bowling weapon. He is bowling well at the moment and was their leading wicket taker in the tri-series. Expect him to star again with the ball for the home side. He is a player for the big occasion.
Babar Azam is the top ranked ODI batsman in the world with nine centuries from 59 games. His highest score is 196 but you have to go back to 2022 to find the last time he reached three figures – that was 28 innings ago against New Zealand, but critically it was at the National Stadium in Karachi that he did it.
As much as he is ranked the number one ODI batsman in the world, Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan felt the need to defend Babar when he addressed the media after the Proteas ODI. “Babar
has scored so many runs for Pakistan that we expect him to score a hundred in each game. If we don’t judge him by those extreme expectations, you’ll find he’s still chipping in and contributing valuably for us. As a captain, I expect a lot more of him too because of all he has done in the past. There is obviously an additional pressure because of it and I’m sure he feels that too. But if you look at his innings in South Africa, he is still scoring runs. It’s not as if he has clear technical deficiencies, but he is still being tested. I am confident he’ll come out of it.”
Fakhar Zaman is the second highest ranked Pakistan batsman. Zaman was out in the cold for a while after falling out with the Pakistan cricket authorities, but he was back at the top of the order in the first ODI of the series where he top scored with 84 off just 69 balls. His good form continued against South Africa on Wednesday when he smashed a brisk 41 from 28 balls to set the tone for what was to follow.
While the pitches in the tri-series were very batsman friendly, Pakistan’s death bowling will still a major concern for Pakistan. Against the Black Caps they went for 98 in the final six overs while against the Proteas they gave away 87 runs in the final seven.
Keep a close eye on Salman Agha, who was named player of the recently completed tri-series after he made scores of 40, 134 and 45. He is a solid bet to be Pakistan’s top scorer once again.
New Zealand
Although he didn’t feature in the tri-series due to injury, New Zealand was hoping that Lockie Ferguson would be fit in time to play the Champions Trophy. Sadly, that is not the case, and he has been replaced in the squad by Kyle Jamieson.
Former skipper Kane Williamson was in great form with the bat during the tri-series posting scores of 58, 133* and 34. He is currently ranked 29th by the ICC but expect that to change when the ICC update the list. Also, expect Williamson to be amongst the runs again on Wednesday – he is a player for the big occasion, and he is in good form. He is a good bet to be the games’ top scorer.
New Zealand looked fantastic in the tri-series. It was an ideal warm-up as well given they played in Pakistan against two very strong sides. Despite the strength of the opposition the Black Caps made light work of their opposition, their batsmen looking very comfortable in the face of some big chases.
There has been no update on the situation with Rachin Ravindra who took a knock to the head in the tournament’s opening game. He missed out on playing against South Africa and in the final, but he should be back for the Champions Trophy opener.
Devon Conway did well in the absence Ravindra. In New Zealand’s last warm-up game ahead of the tournament he hit 66 from 67 balls at the top of the order, while he also scored some very useful runs in the tri-series – including a knock of 97 against South Africa.
Daryl Mitchell is New Zealand’s top ranked player in the ICC rankings. He is currently seventh, while teammate Will Young is the next highest ranked at 14.
Verdict: Pakistan
New Zealand have got the form and the recent results over their opponents, but this is a high-profile game in front of their home fans. Pakistan has a bit of X-factor about them, and this is their chance to shine.
