It is the mid-way stage at the 2025 Champions Trophy and some interesting trends and patterns have emerged in the tournament. From the flat decks in Pakistan to the slow nature of the wickets in Dubai, from one-sided drubbings to the chasing advantage, we look at the big stories and talking points half-way into the competition.
Hosts suffer humiliating exit
The biggest talking point half-way into the 2025 Champions Trophy is that the hosts – Pakistan – are out of the competition after suffering crushing defeats at the hands of New Zealand and India. Pakistan were let down by their batters who did not take enough initiative and were content to play an outdated form of cricket. Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel had strike rates of 75 and 71.6 at the top of the order while Mohammad Rizwan fared even worse with a scoring rate of 53.8. To make matters worse, the pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf did not get early breakthroughs and leaked runs in the death overs. The flat conditions, especially in Lahore and Karachi, did not help their cause either.
Runs galore in Lahore and Karachi
The wickets at the three Pakistani venues were expected to aid fast bowlers. However, the reality has been quite different and at least two of them – Lahore and Karachi – have turned out to be a paradise for the batters. Lahore has a combined batting strike rate of 114 while Karachi stands at 92.75. The four 300-plus totals in the tournament so far have all been witnessed at these two venues.
Some respite for spinners in Dubai Dubai has offered some turn and purchase to the spinners and batting has not been as easy at the venue. However, the slow nature of the wicket has meant that although the spinners have been able to control the flow of runs to some extent, they have found it difficult to make breakthroughs – this explains the 11 wickets at 37.1 apiece for the spinners at an economy rate of 4.36.
No close encounters
The tournament has not really seen a close encounter yet with one team dominating the other almost through every contest. The most exciting game has been the clash between England and Australia when the latter gunned down a record chase of 352 in Lahore – however, they did so with relative ease with five wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare! Three other chases have come with five+ wickets and 20+ balls to spare. The two wins for the team setting a target have seen a margin of 60 and 107 runs.
Chasing Advantage
Teams chasing have won four of the six matches in the tournament and quite emphatically! Three of the four chases have been with six wickets in hand and more than 20 balls to spare. Australia mauled down a record target of 352 set by England in Lahore with five wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare – the highest chase in any ICC white-ball tournament! New Zealand, despite losing early wickets, romped home against Bangladesh with five wickets in the kitty and 23 balls to spare. The dew has played its part, especially in Pakistan.
Maximizing Powerplay & Wins
Teams which have maximized their powerplay have outperformed the opponents in this edition of the Champions Trophy. In five the six encounters thus far, the team which has scored more runs in the first 10 overs has gone on to win the match! India have continued with their aggressive template in the powerplay and smashed 69 (against Bangladesh) and 64 (against Pakistan) in
the first 10 overs. Australia smashed 76 against England in Lahore – the highest team score in the powerplay so far.
Kohli makes it to 14K Club
Virat Kohli produced a masterclass unbeaten 100 in India's thumping win over arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. During the course of his innings, he became only the third batter in ODI history to reach the milestone of 14000 runs. Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara are the other two to have achieved this remarkable feat. Kohli took 287 innings to make it to Club 14K.
Just for perspective, Tendulkar took 356 innings! Kohli also surpassed Ricky Ponting and jumped to number 3 on the run aggregate list in international cricket. He has now scored a colossal 27,503 runs with only Tendulkar (34,357) and Sangakkara (28,016) ahead of him.
NZ in the knockouts again!
With comprehensive wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh, New Zealand have sealed their place in the semi-finals, yet again making the knockouts of an ICC world event! New Zealand have been brilliantly consistent at ICC world events and raise their game on the biggest stage. They were the finalists in the 2015 and 2019 World Cup and the semi-finalist in the 2023 edition. They were also the finalists in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE and semi-finalist in the 2022 edition in Australia. New Zealand also won the inaugural season of the World Test Championship defeating India in the final at Southampton in 2021.