Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan vs New Zealand: The wait for the ICC Champions Trophy tournament is about to end. Finally, the day has come when cricket fans desperate to see the performance of the players will watch this ODI tournament closely. Today (19 February) the opening match will be played between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi, with which the tournament will begin.

Just before this, Pakistan had played the final of the tri-series against New Zealand in Karachi in which Rizwan's team had lost. Not only this, the Kiwi team had defeated New Zealand twice during this tri-series, so this team can present a big challenge for Pakistan.

The ICC event is returning to Pakistan after nearly 29 years, so Mohammad Rizwan and company will try to make full use of this opportunity to defend their title. Pakistan won this title in 2017. Pakistan will get the advantage of home conditions, but it will also be under pressure to live up to the expectations of the audience.

On the other hand, there is New Zealand, which will try to change its fortunes under the leadership of Mitchell Santner. Included in Group A along with India, Bangladesh and hosts Pakistan, the New Zealand team will try to win its second Champions Trophy title after 2000. However, in recent ICC tournaments, the team has established itself as a strong team in the battle for the title.

PAK VS NZ Head-to-Head Records in ODI Cricket

Talking about the ODI match between Pakistan and New Zealand, till now both have clashed 118 times. Pakistan has had the upper hand in this. Pakistan team has won 61 times while New Zealand has been successful in hoisting its flag in 53 matches. Whereas four matches remained inconclusive.

If we talk about the Champions Trophy, New Zealand has proved to be better than Pakistan here. Both of them clashed three times i.e. in 2000, 2006 and 2009 and New Zealand won all the three matches.

Pakistan Squads for Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

New Zealand Squads for Champions Trophy: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Jacob Duffy.

Karachi Pitch Report

The pitch at Karachi's National Cricket Stadium is known for its high-scoring matches. The average first innings score at this ground is 289. Since January 2023, there are a total of 19 venues that have hosted at least 6 ODIs, making this the second-highest scoring venue. However, the toss will not have much of an impact. In the last eight matches played at this ground, the teams batting first and bowling first have won four times each.

Broadcast and Streaming Details

Star Sports are the official broadcasters of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in India. Star Sports Select 2, Star Sports Select 2 HD, Star Sports First, Star Sports Khel, Sports18 1, Sports18 1 HD, Sports18 2 and Sports18 3 will live telecast the Pakistan vs New Zealand match. And free online live streaming of the match will be available on JioHotstar app.