New Zealand beat Pakistan by 60 runs in the opening match of the Champions Trophy. Will Young and Tom Latham’s centuries helped New Zealand post a formidable total of 320 runs. Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf took 2 wickets each. Pakistan could only manage to score 260. Khushdil Shah (69) was the top scorer for Pakistan. Will O’Rourke and Mitchelle Santner took 3 wickets each. Tom Latham was named player of the match. With the win, New Zealand have made it 4-0 against Pakistan in all their Champions Trophy meetings.
After the match, Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan said, “I think they made a very good target, we didn't expect they would get 320. We thought around 260 when we took early wickets. The Will Young-Latham partnership was crucial. We tried, but they played very smartly and that's why they got to that total. The pitch was not easy to bat early on, but Will Young and Latham's innings were crucial. Our execution in the end overs was not good, and that's why they made that score.”
An elated New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said, “I thought Pakistan bowled well, even through the middle stage, but the well Young and Latham rotated the strike and got the odd boundary really set us up. We were thinking 260-280, but it shows what you can do if you have a platform and wickets in hand. After the score we got, the first 10 overs with the ball were outstanding, the way our new-ball guys were able to smash a length. We built the run-rate pressure and were able to chip wickets throughout.”
Player of the match Tom Latham said, “It was a slightly different surface to the ones we played on in the tri-series. The way Will Young batted, and the way GP played towards the end were brilliant. We were able to go through the gears a little bit more and increase the run rate, and when you have wickets in hand with these short square boundaries, you can make hay towards the end. The score we made was well above par. We didn't see that in the tri-series, but with the lack of dew, and with the wind, it probably turned a little bit more in the second innings.”
Apart from Pakistan and New Zealand, Bangladesh and India are a part of Group A in the tournament. The top 2 teams will qualify for the semis.
