Harshit Rana of India fields during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match between Pakistan and India (Photo by Ryan Lim/Getty Images)
It has been an interesting first-half at the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai. The tracks in Pakistan, which were supposed to assist fast bowlers, have turned to be flat decks with teams piling 300-plus totals at will across the three venues. On the other hand, Dubai, as predicted, has been slow and low and assisted the spinners. Chasing has been a clear advantage with dew playing a major role especially in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. And last but not the least while the usual suspects – India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – have all made a big statement – hosts, Pakistan have exited the tournament not with a bang but with a whimper.
RG looks at the trend and patterns and talking points of the first half of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
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.
High Totals in Pakistan
There have already been four 300-plus totals in six matches – two each in Lahore and Karachi – which are the flattest wickets in the tournament. The fast bowlers have suffered in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi with a combined 27 wickets in four matches at an average of 40.66 and economy of 6.29.
Meanwhile, Dubai has offered some purchase to the spinners due to its slow and low nature. While the slower bowlers haven’t picked heaps of wickets at the venue (11 wickets at an average of 37.1 in two matches), they have managed to keep the flow of runs in check with a combined economy rate of 4.36.
Overall though, the flat nature of wickets has meant that most matches have been batting shootouts with the team with more depth and destructive prowess in the line-up, coming out victorious. This augurs well for teams like India and Australia – the latter seem threatening even without their ace pace trio - and it is also one of the reasons why Pakistan have looked a B-grade team in the competition.
Correlation Between 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 fun with only Tendulkar (34, 357) and Sangakkara (28,016) ahead of him.
Inglis & O’Rourke – Best Performances of the Tournament
Josh Inglis – the Australian wicket-keeper batter walked out to bat at 122 for 3 and hammered a breathtaking unbeaten 120 off just 86 deliveries in a record 352-run chase against arch-rivals England at Lahore. He put together a match-changing 146 run stand off just 116 deliveries against Alex Carey for the fifth wicket before sealing the deal with Glenn Maxwell (partnership of 74 off 36 balls).
Will O’Rourke’s 3/47 in 9 overs against Pakistan is the highest impact bowling performance of the season so far. The New Zealand right-arm fast saw the back of the Pakistani openers – Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan – within the powerplay while also choking them for runs. Chasing 321, Pakistan were reeling at 22/2 after the powerplay and the match was effectively over there itself. O’ Rourke returned to pick the wicket of Khushdil Shah – the highest scorer for Pakistan in the innings.
Nikhil Narain is a die-hard cricket romantic, published author, and has worked for some of the leading digital websites and broadcasters in India and overseas. An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Nikhil's forte is using data and numbers creatively to weave interesting stories and revolutionize the way cricket statistics are generated and analyzed.
