February 19, 2025: Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s star batter, saw his impressive streak of six years without a single-digit score in ODIs come to an end during the ICC Champions Trophy opener against Pakistan on Wednesday.
Williamson, who came to bat at 39/1, was expected to anchor the innings as he has done so many times before. However, his stay at the crease was short-lived. He faced just two balls before being dismissed for a single run. Naseem Shah bowled a delivery that found Williamson’s outside edge, and he was caught behind by Pakistan’s wicketkeeper, Mohammad Rizwan.
This was Kane Williamson’s first single-digit score in ODIs since January 5, 2019, when he was dismissed for just one run off nine balls against Sri Lanka. Between these two scores, Williamson enjoyed an outstanding run, amassing 1,775 runs in 38 matches at an impressive average of 61.20. His exceptional form included three centuries, 12 fifties, and a remarkable performance in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, where he was named the Player of the Tournament after scoring 578 runs in nine innings at an average of 82.57.
Williamson’s early dismissal marked an unfortunate start to New Zealand’s innings in their Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan, which saw Pakistan’s skipper Mohammad Rizwan win the toss and elect to field first. Despite Williamson’s rare failure, New Zealand will look to their remaining batting lineup to recover from the setback.
New Zealand’s Playing XI: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke.
Pakistan’s Playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Ali Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.