"Good to see a night test match in Champions trophy" - Fans troll Pakistan for crushing defeat in 2025 Champions Trophy opener vs NZ

Pakistan endured a dismal start to their 2025 Champions Trophy campaign with a 60-run defeat to New Zealand in Karachi. Following a poor tri-series at home, where they lost twice to the Black Caps, the Men in Green once again suffered at the hands of a well-oiled New Zealand outfit.

Winning the toss and bowling first, Pakistan started well by reducing New Zealand to 73 for three in the 17th over. However, centuries from Will Young and Tom Latham, followed by a quickfire 39-ball 61 by Glenn Phillips, helped New Zealand reach a massive 320 for five in 50 overs.

The wayward bowling performance seemingly demoralised Pakistan as the batters came out with no intent, reaching just 22 for two in 10 overs. Despite contrasting half-centuries from Babar Azam and Khushdil Shah, the hosts lost wickets at regular intervals to suffer a crushing defeat and dampen their chances in the tournament.

Fans on Twitter slammed the Pakistan side for a lacklustre performance with the following reactions:

Fans continued expressing their disappointment over Pakistan's defeat saying:

"One thing I’ve realized about Pakistan is, regardless of the pitch, conditions, or dew, they should never chase in an important game. 90% of the time, they will bottle it, be it against India in the T20WC or like today, against NZ."

"Remove these so called world class player from the team Babar, Shaheen, Naseem & Haris and you will see what a great team this can be," tweeted a fan.

"Pakistani bowlers are the biggest fraud.Their bowlers give 320+runs and they say bowling is our strength," a fan said.

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"They made a good target, we didn't expect that" - Mohammad Rizwan

Pakistan captain Muhammad Rizwan acknowledged that his side faltered with the ball in the 2025 Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand. The defending champions had the Kiwis in check for most of their innings until the final flourish.

New Zealand scored a massive 113 runs for the loss of just the lone wicket to reach the 320-run mark in their 50 overs.

Reflecting on the game at the post-match presentation, Rizwan said [via Cricbuzz]:

"They made a good target, we didn't expect that. We were looking at something around 260. We tried our best and used all tactics, but they played well and put up a good target. We see the pitch conditions, earlier the pitch wasn't easy to bat but Will Young and Latham's time was easier. At the end time, we made the same mistake and they made a good target."

With the crushing defeat, Pakistan now face an uphill battle to finish in the top two of Group A and qualify for the semifinals. They will be in a virtual must-win situation in their next encounter against arch-rivals India in Dubai on Sunday, February 23.