New Zealand’s calculated approach, executed flawlessly through tons from Will Young and Tom Latham followed by a trademark Glenn Phillips death overs blitzkreig, took them to a formidable first innings total of 320/5 in the Champions Trophy opener against Pakistan in Karachi. The last six overs were worth 96 alone, with the 47th over proving to be the nadir as Shaheen Afridi got slammed for two maximums and a boundary in an 18-run over. However, the left-arm quick had his moments and the over could have turned out very differently had luck gone his way on the first delivery, albeit skipper Mohammad Rizwan seemed to think otherwise.
Up against a well-settled Latham who had already brought up the three-figure mark, Afridi angled a fullish delivery across the southpaw to tempt the Kiwi into a flick. However, the veteran had taken just enough pace off the ball to draw the shot early, and the Kookaburra flew off the leading edge between short third man and square leg for a boundary. Afridi was unsurprisingly gutted at having his genius be punished with a boundary but there was more suffering in store. Rizwan, in his usual animated way, screamed at his bowler for setting a leg side field but getting hit on the offside, the rage evident in the red flush and stern expressions on his face. Afridi was quick to point out that the original shot was intended to go towards the leg side and he could not have done anything more, albeit it did little to impact his captain’s emotions.
Twitterati was quick to rain down on Rizwan for letting the pressure of the moment get to him instead of being supportive to his premier bowlers.
Whttt!!!
Injury !!
WTF,what’s happening with Rizwan Saud shakeel opening today instead of Fakhar. Pathetic captaincy.
#PakvsNz— KHAN (@aqibk07) February 19, 2025
Throw Shaheen Afridi out of the team
He is a liability now. #ShaheenAfridi— I’MSalman 🇵🇰 🇲🇺 (@iMSalmanPK) February 19, 2025
Struggle Begin!
Let’s See!
Only Twice, 300+ Chased in Champions Trophy history
ENG vs BAN in 2017
SL vs IND in 2017— Virutweets 🇮🇳 (@VirendraPa75305) February 19, 2025
Such balanced pitches, great outfields!
Champions Trophy in Pakistan can save the ODI cricket.— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) February 19, 2025
Wht do you think!!
What a save!!
Philips Airlines 🛫🔥🔥#PAKvsNZ #ChampionsTrophy
— The Grey Man (@sundayback13) February 19, 2025
Soud Shakeel 🇵🇰
ODI career #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/uZET9gzRMG— Collection of Cricket Stats (@ICT_fan_18) February 19, 2025
Flying Phillip!!!
