KARACHI: Pacer Naseem Shah removed Kane Williamson soon after Abrar Ahmad got wicket of Devon Conway to break the opening partnership.
Skipper Mohmmad Rizwan won the toss, and Pakistan opted to bowl, in the opener game of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
“If we think of ourselves as defending champions, we will only put ourselves under pressure. We just want to keep it relaxed,” Rizwan said at the toss.
Pacer Haris Rauf returned to Pakistan XI squad that lost to New Zealand in the final of the ODI tri-series just five days ago.
New Zealand side suffered from injuries.
Experienced fast bowler Lockie Ferguson ruled out of the tournament with a foot problem a day before start of the eight nations mega tournament. The Kiwis also sidelined injured all-rounder and its opener Ravindra due to his injuries.
New Zealand suffered a second injury blow on the eve of the Champions Trophy on Tuesday with experienced fast bowler Lockie Ferguson ruled out of the tournament with a foot problem.
“We’ve been lucky enough to play these guys a lot, home and away, over the last few years,” Santner says of New Zealand’s familiarity with Pakistan.
Pakistan: 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Saud Shakeel, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), 5 Salman Ali Agha, 6 Tayyab Tahir, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar Ahmed.
New Zealand: 1 Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Matt Henry, 10 Nathan Smith, 11 Will O’Rourke.
