KARACHI: Pakistan are back in familiar territory — it’s win or bust now after New Zealand were party-poopers once again for Mohammad Rizwan’s side on Wednesday. It was an appalling performance, the celebratory mood surrounding the Champions Trophy’s homecoming — the first ICC tournament on Pakistani soil in 29 years — having dissipated quickly.
New Zealand beat Pakistan on both occasions they met in the recent tri-nation series, including in the final. They were at it yet again. Pakistan failed to turn up yet again, outplayed by a side that was more clinical, more calculated.
The weaknesses, which Rizwan had spoken about a day ago, didn’t seem to have been addressed. The Pakistan skipper sat in the dressing room, stunned. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. There seemed genuine hope, at least in the crowd that had packed the ground to capacity, by the time Pakistan began their chase.
Amid the trumpeting vuvuzelas and loud cheers at the National Bank Stadium, Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel went out to bat; the hosts hampered by the time penalty on regular opener Fakhar Zaman, who had been forced to come out later after having left the field early in the New Zealand innings due to injury.
Tom Latham and Will Young had hit centuries as Pakistan’s bowling at the death once again came under heavy fire; New Zealand making 320-5 after being sent in. Rizwan’s men needed to respond. The skipper was soon at the pitch after Saud’s early departure.
But it was suffocating for Pakistan; shots unable to get past the infield, boundaries a rarity. As New Zealand’s constriction continued to tighten, the pressure got the better of Rizwan — a stunning one-handed catch by Glenn Phillips, who’d earlier made a whirlwind half-century, seeing his downfall.
The end seemed nigh for Pakistan. Fakhar, looking bothered by his back, flickered briefly before being cleaned up. Salman Ali Agha gave some impetus but after he fell, Tayyab Tahir couldn’t last long. Babar’s demise after making 64, was the final nail in the coffin for Pakistan.
