Pak vs NZ: 5 takeaways from Pakistan’s masterclass on how not to begin Champions Trophy defence – Pakistan

It’s one thing to lose but losing by a sizeable margin in a tournament as short as this one practically feels like two defeats packed in one. It being a lost cause was clear as early as 10 overs into the innings with Mohammad Rizwan gone, Fakhar Zaman playing on one leg and Babar Azam looking out of sorts. Still, the team — or what was left of it — kept their wild goose chase on and ran like a headless chicken.

A far more practical thing to do would have been to salvage the salvageable: play for the run rate that’s going to matter so much in a few days. But that’s thinking ahead — something you don’t expect from this lot’s shot callers. Instead, even if their form improves now and they somehow win their next two matches — which is a big if — their current run rate of -1.2 could come back to haunt them.

For a side that has felt the full force of NRR in major tournaments, Pakistan should have known better by now.

But much before NRR, it was a complete package of a performance from Pakistan on how not to begin a title defence at home and in front of your own fans when the entire cricketing fraternity was watching.

The bowling was poor, the fielding was poorer and the batting was poorest. To make matters worse, their luck was the worst. Fakhar Zaman picked up a freak injury in the field within the first half an hour’s play and had to go out. His departure triggered a series of shuffles in the batting order that disturbed an already unsettled unit.

Saud Shakil, a natural number five who was had recently been promoted to one-down, was now asked to open the innings. Rizwan, who bats at four, came in at one-down and Fakhar, who opens, had to come in at number four because his departure in the field meant that he was not allowed to reenter before the lapse of three hours.

This isn’t to suggest though that the result would have been any different, had this chain of events not happened. It was a comprehensive failure everywhere. Shaheen Afridi, as the main strike bowler, went wicketless, Haris Rauf picked up two but conceded a gargantuan 83 in his quota, while the part-timers Khushdil Shah and Agha Salman exemplified the word part-timers, offering no threat whatsoever.

When both the bowlers and batters had been poor, how could the fielders be left behind. A couple catches were grassed swiftly to even up the scores.

This was an extraordinarily ordinary performance from a bunch that gets billed as special but is not — at least not in its present shape.

Like South Africa, New Zealand have been the perennial under-performers in world cricket and boast just a single major white-ball title on their CV: the 2000 Champions Trophy. However, early signs are that they could be in line to add another Champions Trophy.

Not only do they possess enough experience of playing in Pakistan, the way they dismantled the hosts on Wednesday is a sign that they mean business this time around.

Against Mohammad Rizwan and Co, at no point did they try to play outlandish cricket beyond their means. All we saw was them play everything on merit and capitalise on Pakistan’s mistakes. Even after losing the first three wickets at 73, the combination of Will Young and Tom Latham did not panic and kept the scoreboard ticking. In the end, both scored centuries and laid the foundation of a big total for their side.

There are some players who did or do exceptionally well against Pakistan almost always. There was AB de Villiers who averaged 59.29 against Pakistan in ODIs, New Zealand’s Ross Taylor who averaged 63, David Warner who averages 59.92, Jos Buttler who averages 61 and Rassie van der Dussen, who averages 68.37.

To this list, the latest addition is Glenn Phillips. Pakistan’s newest boogeyman is averaging a staggering 82.75 against Pakistan across seven ODIs. The South Africa-born slugger from New Zealand has taken a liking towards Pakistani bowlers, the evidence of which was provided yet again in the tournament opener.

The 28-year-old came in to bat in the 38th over when the scoreboard read 191-4. By the time he departed in the final over, the score had been turned to 316-5 with him the tormentor in chief of the Pakistan bowlers again. His 61 off 39 balls followed an unbeaten 106 off 74 balls on Feb 8 and an unbeaten 17-ball 20 on Valentine’s Day. If this isn’t true love, what is?

The hosts won’t get a chance to dwell and sulk a lot as India awaits them this Sunday in Dubai. And although India are not India we know, it’s still India. That coupled with Fakhar Zaman’s injury and premium pacers’ struggles means that Pakistan needs to pull the rabbit out of the hat.

If Zaman’s injury is severe, the team needs to make a call and decide if an emergency player has to be drafted. It would be in everyone’s best interest to bring in an opener such as Imamul Haq or Abdullah Shafique as cover rather than insisting on playing players out of position.

Header image: New Zealand’s Will O’Rourke celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan, caught out by Glenn Phillips. — Reuters