Pakistan vs New Zealand Tri series final 14/02/2025

 

Photo: Muhammad Rizwan, Mitchel Santner, Bazid Khan along with match referee credit-PCB

Road to the Final

The Tri-series 2025 final between Pakistan and New Zealand was played at the National Stadium Karachi on February 14, 2025. Pakistan qualified for the final earlier by eliminating South Africa by 6 wickets. More information is available here: Pakistan Road to the Tri-nation Series final.

 New Zealand's Road to the final was quite smooth as they beat Pakistan and South Africa comprehensively. 

Significance of the match

Besides the Tri-Angular Series trophy being on the line, this match was also significant because it was both teams' final outing before the Important ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which starts on February 19, 2025. It was a day and night game.

Team News

New Zealand has made a couple of changes for this encounter, they have rested Matt Henry and Ben Sears to check their bench strength as they were replaced by Jacob Duffy and Nathon Smith. Pakistan has replaced Muhammad Husnain with all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.

1st Innings and Key Moments

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat 1st on the track which was looking quite challenging at the start. Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman started the innings carefully as the ball was not coming onto the bat well. New Zealand struck early to dismiss Fakhar Zaman and nullify Pakistan for any momentum they had. Babar Azam played delightful strokes but soon his partner Saud Shakeel was also dismissed to Micheal Bracewell as the result of a lower bounce. Nathan Smith caught and bowled Babar Azam to increase Pakistan's worries. At the score of 54 Pakistan, all three top-order batters were dismissed.

    Photo: Devon Convey, Babar Azam Credit- ICC

Captain Mohammad Rizwan and Vice Captain Salman Ali Agha joined in the middle. They tried to build a partnership to steady things. As they had already played high-quality knocks in the last game against South Africa so, Pakistan once again Pinged their hopes around them. 

They took their time and slowly built a partnership. The pitch was quite challenging and fast-paced. There was some help for the spinners also. All the New Zealand bowlers bowled beautifully and exploited the conditions smartly. They have given no free runs and both the batters grinned hard to get runs.

Just when the Partnership was shaping well and looking very dangerous for New Zealand William O'rouke hit back and sent Muhammad Rizwan back to the dressing room. So, a solid Partnership of 88 runs was broken. In an attempt to up the scoring rate soon Salman Ali Agha was also dismissed. Tayyab Tahir played some good shots to build the momentum but once he was gone there was no significant resistance from the lower order as the whole Pakistan team was dismissed to a below-par total of 242 runs in the last over.

Mohammad Rizwan was the highest run scorer, he scored 46 off 76 balls where as Salman Ali Agha and Tayyab Tahir scored 45 and 38 respectively. William O'Rourke was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand and got 4 wickets for 43 runs in  9.3 overs. Whereas Mitchel Santner and Micheal Bracewell got 2,2 wickets each.

2nd Innings and Key Moments

While chasing a below-par total of 243 New Zealand lost Will Young early courtesy of a fine in swinger by Naseem Shah. Pakistan bowlers Naseem Shah and Shaheen bowled beautifully with the new ball, their line and lengths were spot-on. They challenged New Zealand batters technique and temperament.

Kane Williamson and Devon Convay played carefully as the pitch was playing its full tricks. Once Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah's spell ended New Zealand batters started to play their shots against other bowlers. They took New Zealand's total to 76 in 17 overs. Salman Ali Agha dismissed Kane William against the run of play to halt the New Zealand chase. 

    Photo: Muhammad Rizwan, Glenn Philips-Credit PCB

Darayl Mitchel and Devon Convay steadied the ship and tried to calm the nerves. Pakistan spinners could not manage to give control like New Zealand spinners did. So they continued to leak runs. Naseem Shah struck back again to dismiss Devon Convay at the team's score of 108 in the 25th over of the Innings. Tom Latham joined Darayl Mitchel and tried to build a partnership. 

Where the match was won?

Pakistan missed a few certain wicket-taking opportunities against Tom Latham which allowed New Zealand to further get closer to the target. 1st on the bowling of Abrar Ahmed Tom Latham was out Lbw but the umpire declared it not out and Mohammad Rizwan decided not to review.

It was the game-changing moment and after a few overs later Shaheen Shah Afridi and Saud Shakeel dropped Tom Latham's two catches to dent Pakistan's hopes further. Latham made use of the opportunities and scored a brisk fifty. Soon his partner Mitchel also completed fifty. Both the batters departed to Shaheen Shah Afridi and Abrar Ahmed eventually but it was too late for Pakistan to get the result in their favor.

Final Result

New Zealand won the match by 5 wickets with 28 balls to spare. Darayl Mitchel was the top scorer he scored 57 of 58 balls, whereas Tom Latham scored 56 off 64 balls. Naseem Shah got 2 wickets, whereas Abrar, Salman, and Shaheen got 1 wicket each. So, New Zealand won the Tri-Nation series.

 File: Babar Azam, Glenn Philips, and Tom Latham

Key Performers of the Match

• Muhammad Rizwan scored 46 off 76 balls
• Salman Ali Agha scored 45 off 65 balls
• William O'Rourke got 4 wickets for 43 runs
• Darayl Mitchel scored 57 off 58 balls.
• Tom Latham scored 56 off 64 balls.
• Naseem Shah got 2 wickets for 43 runs.

Man of the Match

William O'Rourke was the star of the day and he was awarded the Man of the Match award as he got 4 wickets for just 43 runs. He was just brilliant with the ball.

    Photo: William O'Rourke-Credit NZ cricket

What's next for both teams?

Now both Pakistan and New Zealand will face each other at the same venue on February 19, 2025, which will be the curtain raiser for The ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The New Zealand team will feel very confident going into the Champions Trophy as they have got good practice, their batter is back in form, and their bowlers doing perfectly for them. They will definitely be one of the strong teams for the title.

Pakistan has much to ponder before the next clash against the same opposition in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. They need to improve their fielding, Their top order needs to contribute they can't just rely on Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha to rescue them in every game. Pakistan is also missing a key spinner, Abrar Ahmed is good but he is not ruthless like the other spinners teams have. Harris Rauf will be back for the hosts to bolster their pace before the next clash. But they have to improve their batting certainly.

So. that's it from the Tri-nation Series. What do you think who will win The ICC Champions Trophy 2025? Let us know in the comments.

Now we will answer some frequently asked questions.

Who won the Tri-nation series in 2025?

The Tri-nation series final was played between Pakistan and New Zealand on February 14, 2025, at National Stadium Karachi. New Zealand won the match by 5 wickets. William O'Rourke was the star of the day he got 4 wickets for 43 runs in 9.3 overs.

Who was the player of the series in The Tri-nation Series 2025?

Salman Ali Agha was the player of the series for his all-round performance throughout the tournament, he scored 219 runs and got 1 wicket also.

Who won the match today, Pak vs NZ?

New Zealand won the match by 5 wickets and also won the Tri-nation series. William O'Rourke was the star of the day he got 4 wickets for 43 runs in 9.3 overs.