The first game of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy will be contested between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi on 19th February 2025.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Match 1 Pakistan vs New Zealand | 14:30 IST, February 19th
The defending champions and hosts Pakistan are coming into this game with more questions than answers. They lost the final of the recent tri-series at home against South Africa and New Zealand with issues both in their batting and bowling departments.
The form of their battling talisman Babar Azam has to be a cause for concern for Pakistan, with their #3 Saud Shakeel also going through a lean patch of form. In recent times, Pakistan have struggled to find a dependable spin bowler and are going into this tournament with just one spinner and a couple of part-time options.
Looking at their seamers, on paper they are without a doubt up there as arguably the best pace attack, however, of late, their main three seamers – Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Harris Rauf – are struggling with different problems.
New Zealand, on the other hand, are coming into this tournament on the back of a dominant display in the recently concluded tri-series against Pakistan and South Africa. They won all three games, look settled, and have beaten Pakistan twice, more importantly, with ease and convincingly.
Except openers Will Young and Rachin Ravindra – who were short on runs – most of their batters looked in fine form. Their bowling department were impressive through the series with the likes of William O’Rourke, Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner all contributing.
Looking at the surface in Karachi, the Pakistan vs South Africa game saw more than 700 runs being scored while the wicket for the final between New Zealand and Pakistan was two-paced and had something for both batters and bowlers.
However, irrespective of how the wicket behaves, New Zealand have been the stronger of the two sides and should as a result register their three consecutive wins against Pakistan in this opening encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Fantasy XI: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Fakhar Zaman, Kane Williamson (vc), Daryl Mitchell, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Matt Henry, William O’Rourke
Venue: Karachi, Pakistan
Winners Prediction: New Zealand
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