New Delhi: New Zealand opener Tom Latham and opener Will Young’s sublime centuries against Pakistan in their Champions Trophy opening game enabled them to enter an elite batting list on Wedensday.
Latham’s unbeaten 118 and Young’s 107 meant it was only the fifth time that a team had two centurions in an innings of Champions Trophy, which has been revived after eight years.
India’s Virender Sehwag (126) and Sourav Ganguly (117*) were the first to achieve the feat, vs England in Colombo in 2002.
Latham and Young’s hundreds, together with Glenn Phillips 39-ball 61 lifted the Kiwis to 320 for five after being asked to bat at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Young, in the side for the injured Rachin Ravindra, hit 12 boundaries and a six, while Latham hit 10 boundaries and three maximums.
Young was matured enough to hold one side after New Zealand were reduced to 40 for two and then 73 for three in the 17th over.
Big partnership
After losing three wickets early, Young steadied their innings with an 118-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Latham as Pakiitan struggled to find a breakthrough.
Once Young was dismissed in trying to up the ante once he reached his fourth ODI ton, Latham and Phillips batted aggressively in the final 10 overs.
Latham and Phillips clobbered 32 runs in the 44th and 45th overs and smashed 18 runs in the 47th over, bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Phillips was particularly destructive in the death overs as he hit four sixes and three fours in the final over.
Multiple hundreds in a team innings in Champions Trophy
Virender Sehwag (126) & Sourav Ganguly (117*) vs ENG, Colombo (RPS), 2002
Chris Gayle (101) & Dwayne Bravo (112*) vs ENG, Ahmedabad, 2006
Shane Watson (136*) & Ricky Ponting (111*) vs ENG, Centurion, 2009 SF
Shakib Al Hasan (114) & Mahmudullah (102*) vs NZ, Cardiff, 2017
Will Young (107) & Tom Latham (100*) vs PAK, Karachi, 2025
Stats: Cricbuzz
Tom Latham’s unbeaten 118 and Will Young’s 107 was only the fifth time that a team had two centurions in an innings of Champions Trophy Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
