Will Young and Tom Latham struck fine hundreds as New Zealand maintained their recent dominance over hosts Pakistan with an emphatic 60-run win in the Champions Trophy opener in Karachi on Wednesday. Young compiled an important innings of 107 off 113 balls, while Latham remained unbeaten on 118 off 104 balls to steer the Black Caps to 320 for five after Pakistan put them in to bat. Glenn Phillips’ 39-ball 61 also went a long way in the Kiwis getting past the 300-run mark as New Zealand overcame a shaky start.
The Pakistan top-order comprising Babar Azam (64 off 90), Mohammed Rizwan (3 off 14) and Saud Shakeel (6 off 19) were a tad too conservative in their approach. That ultimately cost the home team as it ended with 260 all out in 47.2 overs.
Fakhar Zaman (24 off 41) batted at number four after being off the field for a major part of the New Zealand innings due to an injury scare.
It was New Zealand’s third win over Pakistan in less than two weeks, the Kiwis having beaten the Rizwan-led side twice in the preceding tri-series.
The sole positive for defending champions Pakistan ahead of their clash against India was the performance of the lower-order with Khushdil Shah smashing 69 off 49 balls. Salman Agha also showed plenty of intent in his 42 off 28 balls but that urgency was missing in the approach of the top-order.
New Zealand pacers as well as spinners bowled with accuracy, not allowing the opposition batters to get away. The efforts of pacer William O’Rourke (3/47) and Mitchell Santer (3/66) stood out with the ball.
Earlier, Young struck 12 fours and a six, while Latham batted through the innings to strike 10 boundaries and three maximums as New Zealand posted a challenging total.
Young played anchor after Pakistan elected to field first and had New Zealand reeling at 40 for two and then 73 for three in the 17th over.
Young fast bowler Naseem Shah got the prized wicket of Kane Williamson who was caught behind for a single digit score for the first time in his last 35 ODI outings.
Making a comeback to the team after an injury that had kept him out of the recently-held tri-series, Haris Rauf had Daryl Mitchell mistiming a pull shot to leave the visitors in trouble.
Opener Devon Conway was the first wicket to fall on a pitch which clearly had some grip in it for the spinners, as Abrar Ahmed, brought 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 was playing only because of an injury to Rachin Ravindra, steadied the ship in partnership with Latham as they put on 118 runs for the fourth wicket.
Pakistan, depending on one specialist spinner, three pace bowlers, and two part-time spinners in Khushdil and Agha, just didn’t have the penetration to break the partnership.
After Young fell while looking to open up after sweeping his way to his fourth one-day hundred, Latham and Phillips went after the Pakistan bowling in the final 10 overs.
Latham, who scored his eighth ODI hundred, and Phillips walloped Abrar and Haris for 32 runs in the 44th and 45th overs. In the 47th over, Shaheen Shah Afridi was smashed for 18 runs.
Phillips, who fell in the final over to Haris while trying a reverse scoop shot, did the maximum damage with four sixes and three fours.
Rauf was the most expensive bowler, conceding 83 runs in his 10 overs for two wickets.
Before start of play, President Asif Zardari opened the tournament and was introduced to both teams by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi and ICC officials.
The crowd turnout at the start of the match was not as high as anticipated but as the weather improved, the stadium was getting packed with spectators eager to watch a major ICC event in the country for the first time since 1996.
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