Pakistan etch their name in unwanted list with horrid start against New Zealand in Champions Trophy make unique title from original. The maximum number of words is 16.

Chasing 321 runs, Pakistan had a horrid start in the second innings. Fakhar Zaman, who suffered a lower back injury in the first innings, didn’t open the batting, as Babar Azam walked out alongside Saud Shakeel. Both the senior batters struggled to find runs and eventually, Shakeel departed six runs off 19 deliveries. William O’Rourke sent him back to the pavilion as the hosts were 8/1 after 3.4 overs.

Captain Mohammad Rizwan joined Babar in the middle and things didn’t change much. The keeper-batter joined the struggle and departed after scoring just three runs off 14 deliveries. Glenn Phillips completed a phenomenal catch to send the Pakistan captain packing. In the meantime, Babar didn’t show any improvement as the hosts posted 22 runs for two wickets in the powerplay.

Since the start of 2024, Pakistan have batted at a run rate of 4.73 in the first 10 overs. Only Afghanistan with 4.58 and Ireland with 4.28 have gone at a slower rate among full-member nations. Pakistan also played 65.4%  dot balls in the powerplay, which is only exceeded by Ireland (69.4%) among full member countries.

The misery didn’t quite end there for the Rizwan-led side. Since 2024, Pakistan also registered the joint-lowest powerplay score in ODI cricket. Afghanistan registered 22/2 against South Africa in 2024, the same as Pakistan scored against New Zealand in Karachi. Sri Lanka’s 23/4 against New Zealand in Wellington stands third on the list.

Lowest score in powerplay since 2024:

Notably, Pakistan scored 66 runs for two wickets in 20 overs. In the 21st over, Fakhar departed scoring 24 runs off 41 deliveries. With that, the hosts were reduced to 69/3 and are heading for a massive defeat. The onus now falls on Babar and Salman Agha as this partnership will decide Pakistan’s chances in the match.