New Zealand gears up for Champions Trophy by beating Pakistan in tri-nation series final.
New Zealand has rounded off a perfect preparation for the Champions Trophy by thumping Pakistan by five wickets in a tri-nation series final.
Five days before the teams meet again to open the Champions Trophy, host Pakistan was dismissed for 242, and New Zealand cruised to 243-5 in the 46th over on Friday.
Fast bowler Will O’Rourke staked his claim for Wednesday’s opener with 4-43, and captain Mitchell Santner returned his best-ever economical one-day international figures of 2-20.
None of the Pakistan batters got a half-century while Daryl Mitchell (57) and Tom Latham (56) led New Zealand to a third successive win in the tournament, clinched by Pakistan’s 16th wide delivery.
The Black Caps had beaten both Pakistan and South Africa in group games in Lahore.
“Different guys stepping up at different times is good, but it means nothing till we play that first game at the Champions Trophy,” Santner said.
The teams will return to the same ground on Wednesday. “It [the pitch] was a bit slower than what we thought it would be,” Santner said. “We just wanted to put in a good spot and build pressure. If we take wickets up front, it makes the job easier in the middle.”
Left-hander Latham, who came into the final without a run in both games at Lahore, could have been dismissed on 15 and 27.
However, he was dropped both times, and Pakistan didn’t go for an LBW video referral when replays suggested leg spinner Abrar Ahmed could have overturned the on-field umpire’s decision.
Latham stretched his luck when he successfully reviewed an on-field out ruling for caught behind off Shaheen Shah Afridi. He reached his half-century off 60 balls.
Latham and Mitchell put on 87 runs off 88 balls, dominating the spinners with sweep shots, before both fell late in the run chase.
“He [Latham] is pretty relieved as well,” Santner said of Latham’s 64-ball knock. “We know how good he is, and it was just a matter of time. It was nice for different guys to fire as well.”
Devon Conway (48) played another meaningful knock after being inserted as an opener while Rachin Ravindra was rested after a head knock in the field during the first game against Pakistan.
Conway laid the foundation in a 71-run partnership with Kane Williamson (34), who missed out on his third successive half-century.
Conway top-edged Naseem Shah (2-43), which brought Latham to the crease to join Mitchell.
New Zealand perfectly read the tacky pitch after losing the coin toss and pinned down Pakistan with pacers hitting tight lengths early and Santner drying out the runs in the middle overs.
Babar Azam became the joint fastest batter to reach 6,000 ODI runs with Hashim Amla of South Africa but perished soon after the achievement in his 123rd innings.
O’Rourke struck in his second over when Fakhar Zaman (10) struggled to gauge the two-paced pitch and chipped an easy catch to square leg, and Saud Shakeel (eight) was clean-bowled by off-spinner Michael Bracewell in his first over inside the batting powerplay.
Babar looked to shape up well for a big innings and struck cover-driven boundaries until he offered a tame return catch to Nathan Smith on 29. Babar threw down his bat in dismay as Pakistan’s most accomplished white-ball batter totalled 62 runs in three innings.
Captain Mohammad Rizwan (46) and Salman Ali Agha (45) tried to revive the innings with an 88-run stand but couldn’t score at the pace they managed in the epic run chase against South Africa on Monday.
O’Rourke clean-bowled Rizwan with a scrambled seam in his return spell, and Salman reverse-swept Bracewell to short third man, where Jacob Duffy caught the ball over his shoulders.
“We wanted to bat first because we thought in the second half the pitch would be tough,” Rizwan said. “Credit goes to their bowlers. I tried to build a partnership with Agha, but they were not giving us the [loose] balls.”
Tayyab Tahir (38 off 33 balls) tried to up the scoring rate after Rizwan and Salman fell within five overs, but he was caught at mid-wicket, and Santner chipped in with two wickets in one over to finish with impressive figures.
All-rounder Faheem Ashraf, playing his first ODI since 2023, was dropped twice before O’Rourke bagged him and finished Pakistan’s below-par effort with the bat by claiming the last two wickets.
