Young and Latham centuries craft emphatic win for New Zealand

In a very tight group, New Zealand have put a bit of distance with a comfortable victory here to start their Champions Trophy campaign. Only two teams can progress into the semi-final and already Pakistan, the current holders, are facing a seriously uphill climb with India waiting for them this weekend.

Will Young, opening in place of Rachin Ravindra, scored a century at the top of the order. Tom Latham propelled them through the close of the innings with a century of his own. New Zealand possess variety in their batting line-up, which is a weird thing to say because variety is usually a bowling thing. But these guys have batters capable of navigating tricky conditions and then there's people like Glenn Phillips who can come in after the dirty work is done and explode. That's how they got to 321 today and that's how they'll keep going through the rest of this tournament if pitches have something in it for the bowlers.

Pakistan were handed a terrible blow when Fakhar Zaman pulled up injured in the second ball of the game. He was their game-changer at the top of the order and a chase like this needed a player like him to come off. Instead, he walked in at No. 4 and struggled to even run between the wickets. Thank you for your company on this historic day as ICC tournaments returned to Pakistan, but the hosts were a bit outplayed.

Perseverance pays off for New Zealand. The plan, seeing Khushdil swing everything to the leg side, was to hit the pitch hard, take the pace off and keep the ball wide. To Khushdil's credit, he'd been nailing those flat-bat shots. But here, in the 44th over with his team needing to keep up with an asking rate well above 12 an over, comes the mis-hit. He's played a gem but these one-man knocks, especially so late in the innings with only the bowlers for company, don't always pan out. Pakistan need to look at the way their batters started this chase. They may be - may be - left wondering if that's why they end up missing a semi-final spot. Big Fakhar Zaman sized community note there, of course.

There's still life left in this game. Khushdil Shah is finding his range, largely on the leg side, but that last boundary went over mid-off's head. It's been brilliant hitting, in that he's having to do two things to meet the ball - one wait for it because New Zealand were taking pace off, including their quicks, and two - reach out because they were trying to hide it outside off. Speaks to how well he's seeing the ball. Khushdil hadn't played any ODIs for three years prior to the tri-series that Pakistan hosted earlier this month. Looks an inspired call from their selectors to bring him back.

After removing Tahir with a quicker one, Santher slows his pace down, finds dip and has Babar mis-hitting a sweep off the top edge to square leg for 64 off 90 balls. Pakistan are 153 for 6 in 34 overs, facing a big defeat on the opening night. They might now have to recalibrate their approach to try and bat the 50 overs and protect their net run-rate.

Agha had just dumped Phillips out of the attack with a brace of boundaries in a 15-run over. It forced Santner to turn to his third seamer: Nathan Smith. Salman gives him the charge, but Smith digs it into the middle of the pitch and has Agha top-edging a pull to midwicket for 42 off 28 balls.

In the next over, Santner has Tahir jabbing a quick slider to midwicket for 1 as Pakistan slump further to 128 for 5.

It's the most by them in a men's ODI since the 2018 Dunedin ODI vs New Zealand, where they batted 117 dot balls, and were 9 down for 58, says our stats whiz Sampath.

After bowling a maiden to Fakhar, Bracewell castles him in his next over for 24 off 41 balls. Bracewell pushes one in at middle from round the stumps, causes it to dip and bowl him as the injured Fakhar misses the sweep altogether. Pakistan are 69 for 3 in the 21st over. With Fakhar out of the way, expect Santner to bring himself into the attack. And cue here he comes on to bowl to Babar and Salman Agha.

This is the 17th over - a maiden - bowled by Bracewell to Fakhar, who is seriously hampered by injury. Bracewell gets it to dip and turn, challenging Fakhar to reach out and make a connection. Phillips it also keeping it tight at the other end. It's quite rare for New Zealand to have Bracewell and Phillips bowling ahead of Santner, but at the moment they're doing the job against Fakhar.

Fakhar is visibly struggling to run between the wickets after having sustained a side/back injury in the opening over of the game. NZ's offspinners Bracewell and Phillips are slowing it down and hiding it away from his swinging arc to make life more difficult for him.

Despite the injury, Fakhar steps out and belts Phillips past him for four. The next ball is also slower and wider of off. Fakhar slashes it to cover and goes down on his haunches. Man down. The physio is out to tend to Fakhar. "He's just popped a couple of pills," reports Danyal from Karachi.

Fakhar, however, continues and somehow wills himself into getting across to the other end for a single next ball. The asking rate is creeping up towards eight an over.

Phillips has this habit of plucking one-handed catches out of thin air and also has this habit of making them seem ridiculously easy. However, he still makes you gasp in disbelief.

This is a full-blooded upper-cut from Rizwan. Phillips flings across to his left, sticks his left hand out above his head, and comes down with the ball in his left hand. Wow GP!

Karachi has been stunned into silence. Even O'Rourke has been stunned. Pakistan are 22 for 2 in ten overs. This is Pakistan's lowest 10-over score since March 2019 - and third lowest in CT history - Danyal Rasool notes. Fakhar has finally come in at No.4, with Pakistan in early trouble.

Shakeel lasts for just 19 balls and falls for 6. In his second over, O'Rourke hits a shortish length and gets it to leave the left-hand batter with the angle from over the wicket. Shakeel has a crack at it and slices it down to deep third, where O'Rourke's Canterbury team-mate, Henry, runs in and completes an excellent diving catch.

No Fakhar yet. Pakistan are about three minutes away from being able to send in Fakhar. So captain Rizwan in at No.3, with Pakistan 8 for 1 in their fourth over.

Fakhar Zaman can only come in to bat around 20 minutes into Pakistan's innings, so he won't be opening today. Local boy Saud Shakeel has been promoted to open the batting along with Babar Azam. Fakhar has been listed at No.3 in Pakistan's team sheet. Apparently, there was some dew on the eve of the game. Will it reappear this evening to aid Pakistan's chase?

So, NZ finish with a formidable 320 for 5 on a Karachi surface that has offered some variable bounce. Such a tall total looked so far away when NZ were reduced to 40 for 2 in the first powerplay and then when they were 73 for 3 in 17 overs. Young and Latham then got together to repair the innings and set the stage for the late blitz. Both batters brought up centuries, with Phillips muscling 61 off 39 balls. In all, NZ smashed 113 off the last ten overs, with Pakistan also having to contend with just four men on the boundary for the last two overs for their slow over-rate.

Also, Pakistan have to contend with an in-match penalty for slow over-rate. They will be able to place a maximum of four fielders at the boundary, as opposed to the usual five, for the last two overs of this innings.

Latham gets there off just 95 balls. It's his first ODI ton since his career-best 145 not out against India in Auckland in November 2022. He came into the tri-series final on the back of 0,0,0, but he's turned it around in spectacular fashion. Phillips' big-hitting at the other end is just as spectacular. Rizwan, though, is peeved at all of this. He points to his imaginary watch on his wrist and gestures to Shaheen that Pakistan are well behind the over-rate.

Abrar's last over costs Pakistan 16. After being on 9-0-31-1, Abrar ends with figures of 10-0-47-1. Latham has picked away two more boundaries with the sweep. He is 13 away from becoming the fifth NZ batter to score a century in the Champions Trophy.

In the next over, Phillips muscles Rauf over long-on for six more. NZ are 256 for 4 in 45 overs.

Young was looking to shift up the gears. After he had just exposed all three stumps and crunched Naseem through the covers, he aims to pump the fast bowler over midwicket next ball, but ends up dragging it squarer to Ashraf at deep square leg. The sub fielder runs in from the boundary and takes a smart catch. NZ are 191 for 4 in the 38th over. Phillips is the new batter for NZ.

Fakhar is back on the field. Danyal brings us another update on him from Karachi: "If Pakistan do not stay out there till 6:26pm local (which they most likely won't), Fakhar can only come in at number 5. If, somehow they do stay on till then, he can open."

Young spent four balls on 99, but he gets to the landmark with a neat sweep of his 107th ball. It's his third fifty-plus score - and first hundred - in nine innings in Pakistan. It's also his first international hundred away from him. Ravindra is up on his feet, applauding Young. A hug from Latham is also part of the celebrations. In the next over, Latham reaches his fifty off 61 balls as NZ gear up for the final salvo.

Young has moved smoothly into the nineties while Latham has found his groove. The left-hand batter has disrupted Pakistan's spinners with his ability to play a variety of sweeps of a variety of lengths.

Latham came into the Pakistan tri-series final, with scores of 0,0,0 - stretching back to the Auckland ODI against SL in January. Aided by multiple reprieves, Latham hit form against Pakistan in the final, scoring 56 off 64 balls. Latham has batted with more control and attacking intent today, especially against spin. This pair is setting it up nicely for the likes of Phillips and Bracewell in the end overs.

Fakhar Zaman, who was forced off the field two balls into this game, is being monitored by PCB's medical staff. "Fakhar Zaman is being assessed and examined for a muscular sprain and further updates will be provided in due course," the PCB said in a statement.

Shaheen didn't find a whole lot of swing or seam with the new ball in his opening spell of 3-0-18-0. With the older ball, he's switched to left-arm around the wicket and is trying to bring the stumps into play. It has given Afridi a level of control and penetration on unhelpful pitches with the older ball.

"If I’m not getting swing, I go around the wicket to exploit the angle and hit the stumps," Shaheen told Danyal Rasool. "If the batter misses, you’ll hit. With that angle, the batter also has less of an opportunity to free his arms."

Good time to catch up with Danyal's full interview of Shaheen Afridi.

The camera pans out to Ravindra in the NZ dressing room as Young firmly pulls Rauf to the midwicket boundary. Had Ravindra been fit, Young might not have even played this game.

In Williamson's absence, Young had played a central role, winning the Player-of-the-Series award, in NZ's historic 3-0 sweep of India in India last year. However, he had to make way for a fit-again Williamson in NZ's next Test at home against England. He's used to seizing opportunities whenever he gets them.

He's also used to playing in Pakistan. NZ will hope that he can convert this third fifty in the country to a maiden hundred here.

Haris Rauf marks his return from injury with the wicket of Mitchell, NZ's middle-order mainstay, in his third over. After Naseem dug the ball into the middle of the pitch, with a short leg in place, Rauf takes over, pounds the ball into the deck and has Mitchell flapping a pull to mid-on. Gone for 10 off 24 balls. NZ are 73 for 3 in the 17th over. NZ bat deep - they have Smith at No.9 - and that depth could face a serious test today.

Danyal Rasool from Karachi: Pakistan took a leap of faith backing Abrar Ahmed as their specialist white-ball spinner when the Champions Trophy squad was announced. He had played just four ODIs at that point, and though he’d enjoyed success in Zimbabwe and South Africa, his end to the recent ODI triangular series was inauspicious conceding 130 in 20 overs for one wicket.

He was brought on to stem the flow after New Zealand had made a brisk start, racing along to 30 in five overs. Perhaps only initially brought in to change Naseem Shah’s bowling end, he sent down a tight first over, turning it both ways and rendering Devon Conway in particular unsure of his footwork. The following over, he had his man, Conway playing down the wrong line of a carrom ball that crashed into off stump. Naseem would follow up with Kane Williamson’s wicket, and New Zealand had being reined back in.

Sampath Bandarupalli, our stats whiz, notes Williamson had gone 35 consecutive ODI innings without being dismissed under 10 runs before today.

Just when it seemed like it was going swimmingly well for NZ, Abar gets rid of Conway with a ripper, in his second over. It seemed like a wrong'un but replays indicate that it was the carrom ball that veered away, beat his outside edge, to thud into off stump. Pitched on middle and leg and swerved away to open up Conway.

In the next over, Naseem sends Williamson packing for 1. It's another terrific delivery: angling in towards off, making Williamson play for the inward angle and straightening late to kiss the outside edge. NZ are 40 for 2 in the ninth over.

Injuries have dominated the lead-up to this game, and two balls into the opening game, there's another potential injury. Fakhar chases a cover-drive from Young, dives awkwardly and seems to have hurt his knee or back. He leaves the field of play with discomfort and gets some attention from the Pakistan physio. Kamran Ghulam has come in as the sub fielder. It could be a massive blow for Pakistan if he doesn't recover to take further part in this game.

Not much swing or seam for Shaheen in the first over but there were hints of extra bounce for the left-arm seamer.

Huge cheers in Karachi as Rizwan wins the toss and elects to chase, citing the dew factor. Just one change from the tri-series final for Pakistan: Rauf back in for Faheem Ashraf.

"Generally batter to bat in the second innings," Santner seems to agree with Rizwan. No Ravindra for NZ. Duffy makes way for Henry. Nathan Smith keeps his place in the XI. Here is Smith's journey from small-town Oamaru in Otago via Worcestershire. Given his ability to get the ball to skid and hit hard lengths, Smith could potentially operate with the older ball.

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

NZ: 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

"Haris Rauf has been bowling for a while and looks completely fine," Danyal Rasool reports from Karachi. "Don't see Rachin yet though a few of the New Zealanders are training."

Prior to the tri-series final, NZ head coach Gary Stead said that Ravindra had experienced headaches after that freak injury and that the team management is wary of rushing him back. Toss coming up shortly.

Fakhar Zaman had made his ODI debut in the 2017 Champions Trophy and announced himself with 114 off 106 balls to set up Pakistan's title win. His explosive batting will be key for Pakistan if they are to retain their title. He relishes playing against NZ as the numbers suggest. When Pakistan met NZ in the 2023 ODI World Cup in Bengaluru, he produced an astonishing assault - 126 not out off 81 balls - to stun NZ. What does Fakhar have in store for us today?