New Zealand beat Pakistan in Champions Trophy opener

Tom Lathem stared as New Zealand beat Pakistan by 60 runs in the Champions Trophy opener on Wednesday.

The defending champions were bowled out for just 260 in 47.2 overs at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi thanks to brilliant bowling effort from captain Mitchell Santner and Will O’Rourke, who claimed three wickets each.

Chasing a 321-run target, Pakistan were forced to go with Saud Shakeel and Babar Azam, as Fakhar Zaman was not eligible to bat for 20 minutes due to his time off the field in the first innings because of injury.

Early burst from New Zealand reduced Pakistan to 22-2 in 10 overs.  Babar and Fakhar Zaman made a 47 runs stand for the fourth wicket to keep the scorecard running.

Fakhar was bowled by Michael Bracewell. He scored 24 off 41 deliveries. Salman Agha provided a much-needed lifeline to Pakistan innings.

He smashed six fours and a six for his 28-ball 42. Babar, who showed glimpse of form, anchored the innings for a while. He scored 64 off 90 balls before falling to the New Zealand captain.

Apart from them, Khushdil Shah was promising with the bat. He scored quick 69 off 49 deliveries.

Earlier, Will Young and Tom Latham hit tons to guide New Zealand to 320-5 in their 50 overs. The New Zealand opener played a responsible innings of 107, while Latham scored an unbeaten 118 off 104 balls for the Black Caps.

Young and Latham made a vital stand of 118 off 126 balls to bring New Zealand back in the game. Young contributed with 58 off 58 while Latham scored 57 (68) in the stand.

Glenn Phillips – who has a record of 270 runs in just 7 innings at an average of 90.00 against Pakistan – continued his impressive run with the bat as he smashed Rauf and Shaheen for maximums. He hit a total of four maximums and three boundaries in his 61-run innings which came off just 39 deliveries.

The duo completed a 100-run stand in just 62 deliveries.

Their partnership was broken in the last over of the inning with Rauf picking up the wicket of Phillips.