Champions Trophy 2025: 3 reasons why Pakistan lost against New Zealand

Pakistan Cricket Team under the captaincy of Mohammad Rizwan is facing severe criticism from all corners after their big 60-run defeat against New Zealand in the tournament opener of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Men in Green failed to deliver in all departments and they were outplayed by the Blackcaps. 

A lot of former cricketers and experts of the game are criticizing the hosts and defending champions Pakistan for their poor performance at their home ground. They indicated a lot of flaws in Pakistan’s performance in the first game of the Champions Trophy 2025.

Given that, here we’ll discuss the three reasons why Pakistan lost against New Zealand in the first game of the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy 2025. 

Here’s a look at 3 reasons for Pakistan’s defeat against New Zealand 

Poor bowling in the death overs

Pakistan’s bowling attack was looking quite balanced and equal in the game till New Zealand lost 4 wickets for the loss of 191 runs in 37.2 overs in the first innings. But their performance dipped miserably in the death overs and they happened to concede 129 runs in the last 12.4 overs from 37.2 overs till the end of the 50th over. 

The bowling from Pakistan in the death overs looked completely poor in the death overs which was completely utilized by the New Zealand batters Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips. Haris Rauf conceded 83 runs with an expensive economy rate of 8.30 in his 10 overs while Shaheen Afridi conceded 68 runs in 10 overs with an economy rate of 6.80. 

So, the poor bowling in the first innings happened to be the starting and one of the reasons for Pakistan’s debacle against New Zealand.

Poor batting intent during run-chase

Apart from poor death bowling, what faced the most criticism was Pakistan’s poor batting intent during the run chase of a target of 321 runs. Their batters, even including the top batters like Babar Azam failed to deliver and played with a very poor and slow strike rate. The poor batting of Pakistan during the run-chase can be understood by the fact that they played 60 dot balls in the first 13.3 overs in the second innings.

Star opener and former skipper Babar Azam scored 64 runs off 90 balls with a very dismal strike rate of 71.11, hitting six fours and a six. He played a total of 52 dot balls (8.4 overs) which played a vital role in denting Pakistan’s winning hopes during the run-chase. Even the quick knocks of Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah couldn’t help their side to revive from the dent their top order batters gave with the sluggish batting approach. 

Lack of support for Abrar Ahmed in the spin department

The Pakistan management’s decision that backfired the most was to play with only one specialist spinner Abrar Ahmed. They completely felt the lack of a quality spinner to support Abrar Ahmed in the spin department. New Zealand won the mind game against Pakistan when they utilized their spinners to bowl 29 overs in the second innings. 

But for Pakistan, it was only Abrar Ahmed who was seen struggling to tackle the New Zealand batters. Besides him, only Khushdil Shah and Salman Agha were there to bowl as part-time bowlers, delivering 10 overs combined. Abrar scalped only 1 wicket at 47 runs in his 10 over and things could’ve been different for him and Pakistan in the game against New Zealand if he had got support from any other quality and full-time specialist spinner. 

Disclaimer: This Exclusive News is based on the author’s understanding, analysis, and instinct. As you review this information, consider the points mentioned and form your own conclusions.

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