KARACHI: The stands were filled to capacity but the silence was almost deafening here on Wednesday. The New Zealand bowlers could hardly err and Babar Azam would keep blocking.

Promoted to the top of the order because Fakhar Zaman was forced to come out later after having left the field early in the New Zealand innings due to injury, SaudShakeelwould casually lose his wicket.

Mohammad Rizwan would become prey to a flying effort quite literally by Glenn Phillips at point before a half-fit Fakhar, coming in at four, would excite the crowds for a while before perishing.

Salman Ali Agha`s short stay at the crease brought as much hope as there could possibly be before Khushdil Shah and the lower order`s exploits made the result sound better than worse.KARACHI: The stands were filled to capacity but the silence was almost deafening here on Wednesday. The New Zealand bowlers could hardly err and Babar Azam would keep blocking.

Promoted to the top of the order because Fakhar Zaman was forced to come out later after having left the field early in the New Zealand innings due to injury, SaudShakeelwould casually lose his wicket.

Mohammad Rizwan would become prey to a flying effort quite literally by Glenn Phillips at point before a half-fit Fakhar, coming in at four, would excite the crowds for a while before perishing.

Salman Ali Agha`s short stay at the crease brought as much hope as there could possibly be before Khushdil Shah and the lower order`s exploits made the result sound better than worse.It was a 60-run loss, Pakistan`s effort was in contrast to the bigness of the occasion and the numbers in the stands, which deteriorated with each falling wicket.

After being bludgeoned for 320 thanks to centuries by Will Young and Tom Latham the hosts had no answer to the New Zealand bowlers, as they were bundled out with two overs and four balls to spare in their ICC Champions Trophy opener at the National Bank Stadium.

Their start in the tournament meant Pakistan now cannot afford to lose to India in their second match in Dubai if they are to qualify for the semifinals.

With a big total to chase, Pakistan required to get off to a flyer. But what happened was the other way round.

The hosts only managed to post a meagre 22 runs in the first 10 overs, with Saud finding Matt Henry at deep third man offpacer Will O`Rourke and Rizwan becoming the bowler`s second victim.

As Fakhar finally came in to bat, the silent crowd finally rose from slumber.

The celebrated southpaw hit all his four boundaries early in his knock before the injury slowed him down and finally saw him cleaned up by spinner Michael Bracewell.

When Salman entered the filed, Pakistan scored 35 runs between the 28th and the 31st over, as the batter took on the New Zealand spinners with poise, only to be dismissed with the introduction of pacer Nathan Smith.

Babar (60 off 90) brought up his 50 in 81 balls 49 of those dots before New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner ended his proceedings.

Khushdil`s 69 off 49, which featured 10 fours and a six and under-20 cameos by tailenders Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf completed the damage control effort.Earlier, Young and Latham took the mantle to stabilise New Zealand following a shaky start before Phillips` fireworks saw the visitors put up a solid 320-5.

The ton-up pair combined for 118 off 126 to pull New Zealand out of danger after they had lost the likes of Devon Conway, Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell, leaving the side reeling at 73-3 by the 17th over.

While Young hit a riskfree 107 off 113 (12 fours and a six), Latham accelerated as he got deeper into his unbeaten knock for 118 off 104 (10 fours and three sixes).

With the base set, Phillips, who arrived to bat in the 38th over, smashed away three fours and four sixes for his 61 off 39.

The muscular righthander put up 125 off 74 with Latham for the fifth wicket, 113 runs of which came in the last 10 overs, raising further questions over Pakistan`s ability to contain oppositions in the death overs.

The hosts` bowlers had looked dangerous to start with, as spinner Abrar Ahmed`s nagging googly pushed Conway to his backfoot before clipping away the left-hander`s offstump in the eighth over.

The breakthrough opened doors for Pakistan, as pacer Naseem got veteran New Zealand batter Williamson four balls later, pitching one in the channel before it moved away just enough to find the right-hander`s outsideedge for Rizwan to take a low catch behind the stumps.

The Pakistan pacers were steaming in as the crowd`s roar ascended in unison with their rhythm, and Haris pitching one short to Mitchell as he mistimed an attempt to clear mid-on to find Shaheen four overs later.

But it was all New Zealand after that, as Young looked settled bringing up his 50 in 56 balls in the 19th over. He brought up his fifty runpartnership with Latham with a sumptuous flick for four past square-leg off Naseem.

Latham stamped the pair`s authority on the pitch with two sweeps for fours, to take New Zealand past the 150-mark in the 31st over.

Young brought up his century with a single off Abrar four overs later before completing the 100 partnership with Latham as frustration started to show in the Pakistan players` body language.After Latham had reached his fifty, the lefthander punched Shaheen through extra coverforhis fourth boundary before Young holed Naseem out to substitute Faheem Ashraf at deep square-leg in the 38th over.

The incoming Phillips announced his arrival with a handsome six down the ground off Khushdil Shah before Latham swept Abrar for a six and two boundaries to get 16 off the 44th over.

Phillips lofted Hariswith ease for another maximum in the next over for his second six as New Zealand crossed the 250run mark. Latham brought up his eighth ODI century with a single off Shaheen in the 47th over, which also saw Phillips pull and flick the Pakistan pace spearhead for two more sixes.

The pair scored 34 more before Phillips perished on the third-last ball of the innings as New Zealand piled up what proved to be an impossible total to chase for Pakistan.