Pakistan Become The 1st Team To Be Knocked Out Of ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Not many people predicted a win for the Bangladesh side in the Champions Trophy 2025 at the Rawalpindi Stadium against New Zealand, apart from the Tigers’ fans and the Pakistan side, who were keeping a close eye on the result for their survival in the eight-team tournament.

The Green Brigade had a tough time in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy, as they lost to the Blackcaps in the home tri-series before continuing the same struggle in the ICC competition.

New Zealand’s victory over Bangladesh knocks Pakistan out of Champions Trophy 2025

Generally, on a flat Rawalpindi surface, one would expect the batters to enjoy the bounce of the surface to score aggressively. The Kiwi captain, Mitchell Santer, won the toss and decided to bowl first under the heat, expecting the dew to arrive later in the evening, which would make the batter a bit easier under the lights.

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Bangladesh made a decent start with 64 runs in the first 12 overs before they lost their second wicket to Mehidy Hasan Miraz (13). Their captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, smashed a 77-run knock in 110 deliveries at a strike rate of 70, thanks to nine boundaries. Jaker Ali drilled 45 runs in 55 deliveries at a strike rate of 81, shouldering on three boundaries and one six.

The Tigers kept on losing wickets in the middle overs before Rishad Hossain creamed 26 runs in 25 deliveries to finish on 236/9 in their allotted 50 overs. Michael Bracewell finished with a fantastic figure of 4/26 in 10 overs, while William O’Rourke ended with two wickets.

The Blackcaps lost two quick wickets early on before the 129-run stand for the fourth wicket between Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra put the winning platform for the side. Latham smashed 55 runs in 76 balls at a strike rate of 72.37, while Ravindra celebrated a fine knock of 112 runs in just 105 balls as they chased down the score with five wickets in hand and nearly four overs to spare.

Pakistan struggles with two successive defeats in the Champions Trophy

Pakistan’s journey to the Champions Trophy 2025 was promising, with three consecutive series victories in Australia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. But once they returned home, their batters started to struggle on the flat surfaces, while Saim Ayub’s injury was a massive setback for the Mohammad Rizwan-led side.

The Green Brigade lost the opening fixture against New Zealand in Karachi, where they failed to chase down 321 runs. Babar Azam’s knock of 64 runs in 90 balls was not enough for the high-scoring chase, while Khushil Shah and Salman Ali Agha’s fiery knocks were not enough towards the end.

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The mouth-watering clash against India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE was a do-or-die clash for Pakistan, whose batters struggled in the middle overs to post a paltry score of 241 runs. Their bowlers failed to depend on the score, as Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 100-run knock carried the 2013 title-winners over the line.

Pakistan focuses on the ODI future

The last group-stage encounter for Pakistan against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi will be a dead rubber. They hope to win the clash and gain some confidence going into the bilateral series. Pakistan will make a trip to New Zealand in March before featuring in the T20 league at home.

When the side struggled in the longest format, they changed the surfaces to bring the spinners into the game and immediately gained success. They will need to show some better applications in the two white-ball formats after their three poor ICC events in the ODIs and T20Is.