Hosts Pakistan suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener in Karachi on Wednesday. The Kiwis put up 320 runs and Pakistan's run chase never got close, falling 60 runs short in the end. Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and put the Kiwis in to bat first. Though they had a brisk start, New Zealand were reduced to 73/3 when Will Young and Tom Latham joined hands at the crease. NZ fight back after early wickets The duo stitched together a 118 run partnership and Young brought up a century off 107 balls but was dismissed shortly after. Then, Latham and Glenn Phillips took the attack to the Pakistani bowlers, making 125 runs in just 74 balls. The Black caps wound up on 320/5 in 50 overs. Latham top scored with 118 off 104 balls, remaining unbeaten at the end. Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah picked two wickets each for New Zealand. PAK run chase gets off to terrible start Pakistan had a horrendous powerplay, Saud Shakeel and skipper Rizwan were both dismissed by Will O'Rourke in a fiery opening spell. Glenn Philips pulled of a blinder of a catch to get Rizwan. From 22/2 after 10 overs, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman made slow progress until the latter was out to Michael Bracewell. 3 successive wickets spell trouble for hosts Salman Agha brought some much needed momentum to the innings but was dismissed on 42 off 28 balls. Tayyab Tahir followed right after him. But the biggest blow came next, when Babar who had brought up a 50 was out to Kiwi skipper Mitchell Santner who snagged a three-wicket haul in the game. Khusdil Shah propped up the innings with some lusty blows but his dismissal on 69 off 49 balls, was the final nail in the coffin. The tail folded soon after as Pakistan's chase came to a feeble end at 260 in 47. 2 overs. The hosts will now face arch-rivals India in a must-win game on Sunday. Meanwhile, New Zealand take on Bangladesh in their next game.Original Article