New Zealand defeats Pakistan by 60 runs in opening match of ICC ...

New Zealand has made an impressive start to the Champions Trophy, winning the opening match by a comfortable 60 runs over hosts and holders Pakistan.

Will Young struck 107 and Tom Latham smashed an unbeaten 118 to help New Zealand overcome a tricky start to post 5-320 after being put into bat at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Glenn Phillips chipped in with a brisk 61 as New Zealand posted a challenging total, having slipped to 3-73 in the 17th over.

"I think Pakistan bowled pretty well … but the way Young and Tommy were able to rotate (strike) and get the odd boundary, that partnership set us a very good platform," New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said.

"We were thinking 260-280, but it shows what you can do if you have a platform and wickets in hand."

Pakistan's chase never really started, being 2-22 after 10 overs. Fakhar Zaman was unable to open having been off the field for some time with a rib muscle injury sustained early in New Zealand's innings and the reshaped order struggled against tight bowling and superb fielding.

Babar Azam made 64 but took 90 balls to do so while Fakhar, when he batted, was struggling even to run a single. He made 24 off 41.

Although Khushdil Shah (69 off 49) and Salman Ali Agha (42 off 28) provided some late hitting Pakistan were always well behind the rate and were all out for 260 in 47.2 overs.

Santner and Will O'Rourke each took three wickets while Michael Bracewell's 10 overs went for 38 and Matt Henry took 2-25 off 7.2 overs.

"Losing Fakhar Zaman (as opener) was crucial," Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan said.

"We lost momentum twice, first (bowling) in the death overs and then in the powerplay with the bat."

"We didn't expect they would get 320. We thought they'd get around 260 when we took those early wickets."

By the end the initially raucous crowd was silent, hushed by the disappointment on what was a landmark day for Pakistan as they hosted a major cricket tournament for the first time in 29 years.

They now go to Dubai to play arch-rivals India knowing defeat, given the damage this loss inflicted on their net run rate, could knock them out of the tournament.

With Fakhar likely to be absent the pressure on their misfiring batting line-up is considerable.

"This match is gone, and the next match is another normal match for us," Rizwan said.

AAP

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