The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Kickoff – Pakistan vs New Zealand: Squads, Key Battles & Predictions

Photo: Mitchel Santner and Muhammad Rizwan credit- PCB

Overview

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is going to kick off from tomorrow. The opening match of the tournament will be played between Pakistan and New Zealand at National Stadium Karachi. Pakistan and New Zealand are placed in Group A along with India and Bangladesh. 

The ICC Champions Trophy is a marquee event that the ICC holds. All the teams always dream of getting over the line and securing the ICC trophies. So, the ICC Champions Trophy holds significant importance for all the teams. 

This time Pakistan is hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This is their 1st ICC event after 27 years. The preparations are complete and the tournament is ready to go. All the teams, fans media, and support staff are in Pakistan from all over the World to cheer their side in the mega event.

All the teams will play 3 matches in the group stage with other teams of the same group and the top two teams will qualify for the semi-finals. So, this match holds a lot of importance as the team winning it will have a bright chance of securing their place in the final and the loser will have to win their remaining two games against India and Bangladesh to get a place in the semi-finals. So, both teams will try their best to start the campaign with a bang and get momentum for the next games. We are expecting a cracker of a game ahead.

    Photo: ICC Champions Trophy 2025 credit-ICC

In this article, we will discuss the squads and key players, head-to-head, Recent performances, pitch and conditions, key matchups, and match prediction.

Team News and playing 11's

The New Zealand team is coming into the match on the back of solid performances in the recently concluded Tri-Nation series against South Africa and Pakistan. A few days ago they won the final on the same ground. So, they are in winning momentum having a settled team. They know the conditions very well. We are not expecting them to make a lot of changes in their winning team except few players who were rested for the Tri-Series Final. 

Rachin Ravindra is expected to make his way back into the playing 11 after being injured in the 1st game of the Tri-Nation series. Matt Henry and Ben Sears will also appear in the final 11 after being rested for the last game. 

Pakistan team's pace attack will be bolstered by Harris Rauf who was injured in the match against South Africa in The Tri-Nation series. Usman Khan is also expected to replace Saud Shakeel.  Except for these changes, the playing 11s are expected to be the same.

    Photo: Harris Rauf credit-ICC

 Head to Head

New Zealand and Pakistan came across each other 118 times in ODI's. Pakistan came out top 61 times whereas New Zealand won 53 times. In Pakistan both teams have faced each other 30 times in ODI Pakistan won 22 times where as New Zealand came out top 8 times. 

Recent Performances

New Zealand have the upper hand in the recent performances. They have beaten Pakistan in the recently concluded Tri-Nation series final by 5 wickets. So, they are coming into the match on the back of 3 consecutive wins. 

New Zealand's last results:          WWW

Pakistan's last results:                    LWL

Who are the Key players to watch?

• Kane Williamson

New Zealand former captain Kane Williamson is in fine form as he recently scored his 16th ODI Ton against South Africa. So, he will have to produce one of his best against a quality Pakistan side who are playing in their home conditions.

• Daryl Mitchel

Daryl Mitchel is another batter who has plenty of success against Pakistan, he has 50+ average in ODI's against them. So, he will be another key player for New Zealand, and New Zealand will want him to score big again. 

• Micheal Bracewell

Micheal Bracewell is a very good all-rounder. He has caused a lot of trouble to Pakistan batters in recent times especially Babar Azam whom he has now dismissed a record 7 times. So New Zealand will be expecting him to perform well again in the big game.

•  Babar Azam

Babar Azam is one of the best ODI batters in the world right now. He is Pakistan's most experienced and reliable player. Recently he has completed joint fastest 6000 runs in just 123 innings along with Hashim Amla. Pakistan desperately needs their star batter to find his best touch in this contest. 

• Muhammad Rizwan

Muhammad Rizwan Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper batter plays in the middle order for the team. In recent times he has recognized himself as one of the best Wicketkeeper batters in the world. He was in fine touch in the last concluded Tri-Nation series. Pakistan would definitely like him to go big again in the crucial game.

• Shaheen Shah Afridi

Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of the best white-ball bowlers in the world right now. He has 127 wickets to his name in just 63 ODI matches. These stats are just unbelievable. Pakistan's performance in this event depends a lot on him. They will need him to give them early breakthroughs to dent the opposition.

    Photo: Kane Williamson credit-ICC

Pitch and conditions

Weather is expected to be clear and pleasant for this encounter. The pitch is expected to be fresh and good for batting. It is expected to be a high-scoring name. Whereas spinners will get good assistance from the pitch.

What will be the Key Matchups?

• Babar Azam vs Micheal Bracewell

Micheal Bracewell has dismissed Babar Azam's record 8 times so it will be a key battle in this match. Babar Azam is world-class batter but these stats show that he often has a problem against Micheal Bracewell so he would definitely like to improve his stats against him. We will have to see who will come on top this time.

• Shaheen Shah Afridi vs Kane Williamson

New Zealand's prime batter will be against Pakistan Eagle in this match. Both the players are backbones of their teams. Kane is a world-class batter he has performed at the top level for many years. Whereas Shaheen Shah Afridi is lethal with the new ball. He is one of the best exponents of the new ball right now. We will have to see how this battle unfolds this time.

Who will win this match?

New Zealand is coming into this game on the back of a morale-boosting final win against the same opposition at the same ground. So they will be feeling pretty confident before the game. They have a settled team and having won both recent encounters within the last 10 days against almost the same Pakistan team which they will face tomorrow they have the upper hand surely.

But Pakistan is playing in their home conditions, They are a very dangerous side in the ICC tournaments. They have also top players who can win the game for them easily. Recent results and in-form players will provide New Zealand the upper hand but Pakistan's history in big events against Kiwis and their home conditions advantage also favoring them. Who will come on top tomorrow? We will have to wait and watch.

    Photo: New Zealand team with the Tri-nation Series trophy credit-PCB

So, What do you think who will win this match? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.