Pakistan vs New Zealand: A Streak of Cricket Match Disasters
- Ankur Sachdev
- Mar 17
- 4 min read
Key Highlights
Pakistan lost almost $85 million during Pakistan vs New Zealand in ICC 2025 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan also lost the Champions Trophy opener cricket match by 60 runs.
New Zealand won the first T20 match of the series against Pakistan.
The ICC 2025 Champions Trophy has ended but, by the looks of it, conversations around it have not ended yet. A major portion of conversations revolves around how Pakistan hosted the entire ODI tournament. For starters, it ended up transitioning into a hybrid model because India, that is Bharat, played all its cricket matches in Dubai. Then, Pakistan did a poor job of clearing grounds after the rains.
What’s now at the center is the first match of Champions Trophy 2025 which was played between New Zealand and the hosts on February 19, 2025. Spoiler alert - Pakistan lost not only the cricket match against the visitors but also a lot of money.
Pakistan vs New Zealand Cricket Match: Champions Trophy 2025
According to a report by The Telegraph, Pakistan spent approximately $100 million for the game against New Zealand. But, all of it soon became a financial loss when the hosts were unable to earn against heavy expenses. Pakistan spent a lot of money on upgrading its stadium and then on event preparations. Per the same report, the country went almost 50% over budget in upgrades and rolled out $40 million in preparations.
Books recorded heavy losses because Pakistan only got $6 million in hosting fees along with a few more million dollars in ticket sales plus sponsorship. Overall, it reportedly suffered a loss of $85 million. Interestingly, that was the only match that Pakistan played on its domestic soil. One against Bangladesh didn’t happen due to rain and one against India happened in Dubai, which is a foreign soil for both nations.
However, Pakistan also suffered another blow in the only Champions Trophy match that it played. Pakistan vs New Zealand cricket match favored the visitors who won it by 60 runs. Led by Mitchell Santner, the team bowled out Pakistan at 260 runs in 47.2 overs. Thereby, stopping them from chasing a massive total of 320 which was accumulated with the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs.
Mohammad Rizwan was leading his respective side. He failed to play a captaincy knock, and was dismissed by Will O’Rourke for just 3 runs in 14 balls. Babar Azam tried to save the sinking ship but was noted to be too slow with a strike rate of 71.11. He only registered 64 runs off 90 balls.
This is the same match where Pakistan’s team was criticized by its fans for playing with a defensive mindset. The side was chasing a 300+ total and the correct approach needed was to hit big shots, or to at least get a strike rate of 6+ runs per over.
Pakistan vs New Zealand: T20 Series 2025
Pakistan are now in New Zealand for a series of five T20 cricket matches and three ODI games. The disaster continues with Pakistan having lost the opening game of the T20 series. New Zealand picked up all 10 wickets in 18.4 overs. The side then went to the field to chase a small total of 92 runs. Led by Michael Bracewell, New Zealand chased it within 11 overs with a loss of just one wicket.
Both openers of Pakistan returned without scoring a run. Salman Ali Agha, the Captain for the match, could only bring up 18 runs from 20 balls. In fact, only 3 batters scored in double digits - Salman himself, Khushdil Shah, and Jahandad Khan. Every other batter failed to score anything beyond 7 runs.
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New Zealand, on the other side, brightened up their fans at Hagley Oval stadium. Tim Seifert almost brought up a half-century, scoring 44 runs off 29 balls. Simply put, disaster for Pakistan in cricket matches has a window open at the moment for anyone who is looking for entertainment. It is a game at the end of the day but negatives are stretching for Pakistan longer than they should.
Pakistan in ICC 2025 Champions Trophy
Pakistan was in Group A with India, New Zealand, and Bangladesh. After losing to New Zealand in the opener, Pakistan took up a challenge to beat India in the neutral venue. It could not do so as Virat Kohli stood tall again like a wall. India chased the target of 241 with a loss of 4 wickets as Kohli completed his 100-run milestone and finished the game for the country.
After that, Pakistan only wanted to beat Bangladesh and keep its head high. That didn’t happen either when the cricket match got washed out and both sides picked up a single point each. Pakistan finished the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the bottom of the table with only 1 point.
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