Fluent tons of by opener Will Young and skipper Tom Latham powered New Zealand to a aggressive 320 for 5 against hosts and defending champions Pakistan in the Champions Trophy opener right here on Wednesday (February 19, 2025).
Young compiled an necessary innings of 107 off 113 balls, whereas Latham remained unbeaten on 118. Glenn Phillips then blazed away to a 39-ball 61 to prop up the Kiwi innings on the National Stadium.
Also learn | When and the place to watch ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Full schedule, squads and extra
Young struck 12 fours and one six, whereas Latham batted via the innings to strike 10 boundaries and three maximums.
Young performed anchor after Pakistan elected to area first and had New Zealand reeling at 40 for 2 after which 73 for 3 in the seventeenth over.
Young quick bowler Naseem Shah obtained the prized wicket of Kane Williamson who was caught behind for a single digit rating for the primary time in his final 35 ODI outings.
Making a comeback to the workforce after an damage that had saved him out of the recently-held tri-series, Haris Rauf had Daryl Mitchell mistiming a pull shot to go away the guests in bother.
Opener Devon Conway was the primary wicket to fall on a pitch which clearly has some grip in it for the spinners, as Abrar Ahmed, introduced in the eighth over, used a carom ball to beat the southpaw.
With three wickets gone with not many runs on the board, Young, who’s enjoying solely due to an damage to Rachin Ravindra, steadied the ship in partnership with Latham as they placed on 118 runs for the fourth wicket.
Pakistan, relying on one specialist spinner, three tempo bowlers, and two part-time spinners in Khushdil Shah and Salman Agha, simply didn’t have the penetration to break the partnership.
After Young fell whereas trying to open up after sweeping his means to his fourth one-day hundred, Latham and Phillips went after the Pakistan bowling in the ultimate 10 overs.
Latham, who scored his eighth ODI hundred, and Phillips walloped Abrar and Haris for 32 runs in the forty fourth and forty fifth overs. In the forty seventh over, Shaheen Shah Afridi was smashed for 18 runs.
Phillips, who fell in the ultimate over to Haris whereas attempting a reverse scoop shot, did the utmost harm with 4 sixes and three fours.
Rauf was the most costly bowler, conceding 83 runs in his 10 overs for 2 wickets.
Earlier, President Asif Zardari opened the match and was launched to each groups by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi and ICC officers.
The crowd turnout firstly of the match was not as excessive as anticipated however because the climate improved, the stadium was getting full of spectators keen to watch a serious ICC occasion in the nation for the primary time since 1996.
Published – February 19, 2025 06:57 pm IST
