WILL Young, 107, delighted with New Zealand's opening Champions Trophy win over Pakistan

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Will Young, 107, delighted with New Zealand's opening Champions Trophy win over Pakistan  19/02/2025  ICC25

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00:00Hi Will, congratulations on the century. What do you think? You did not have to take any

00:15risks during your innings. It seemed like a very seamless innings. And as we compare

00:21it to Pakistan, they were kind of struggling to keep going. So do you want to talk about

00:28it?

00:29Yeah, I mean it didn't seem risk free. I suppose one thing our batting unit talked

00:35about was creating partnerships throughout our innings. And it was only a small partnership

00:40with Dev, but we got the ball rolling. And then unfortunately we lost Kane early, and

00:46Darryl not long after that. So Tommy and I talked about obviously building a partnership

00:53and it just felt like if Pakistan got three or four dot balls, we managed to get a boundary

00:59away not long after. And it just kept the momentum of the innings going. And then I

01:06think we got to where we wanted to after 30 overs. And I felt, or with Tommy, we both

01:12felt that the game was in the balance at that point at 140 odd for three after 30 overs

01:18I think it was. And then from there we had a platform to launch from. And obviously the

01:25way that Tommy and JP finished the innings was just brilliant.

01:30Young, how does it feel to keep home crowd silent for most of the time and then your

01:36knock turned out to be in winning cause for your team to start off this Champions Trophy

01:40on a high note?

01:41Yeah, brilliant to start off the Champions Trophy with a win, just on the crowd. They

01:48weren't too quiet. They were a really good crowd. They were noisy throughout. So yeah,

01:53it's been awesome playing in Pakistan. And yeah, hopefully the crowds are the same throughout

01:57the tournament because they were brilliant today.

02:00Well, fourth ODI 100, first away from home, the way you batted, you pasted your innings,

02:06are you making plans to, planning like how to score in power play and then plan about

02:12after power play? Because this is a very pure class, pure modern ODI innings that you played.

02:17And away from home, so how much it means to you?

02:20Yeah, thank you. It means a great deal to bring up my fourth ODI 100 today. As I said

02:26before, it sort of makes it easier if you focus on the partnerships that you're in rather

02:31than focusing too much about your own personal score or anything like that. But yeah, in

02:38the power play, I think the nature of the power play, there's more people in the ring,

02:44so you're going to hit fielders more often. There's going to be more dots, but on the

02:48flip side to that, there's this opportunity to score some boundaries. And I managed to

02:53get a few away in the power play, which sort of got my innings and our innings going. And

02:58then through the middle, it's a different challenge altogether. You know, spinners come

03:02into it, forefielders out, sort of the gaps open up and you try and score off as many

03:09balls as you can to keep the momentum going. So yeah, very pleased with the way things

03:15panned out today and yeah, have a meaningful contribution on the game with my partnership

03:22with Tommy.

03:54Tommy and I knew we were in a little bit of trouble three down and we didn't want to

03:58look too far ahead and start talking past scores and things like that. We wanted to

04:03get to 30 overs three down. That was our first goal. Then the next phase was to the 35th

04:10over and then I got out after that. But when I came off, I think I got out in the 38th

04:17over. I was saying to the boys, I thought 280 was a really good total. If the seamers

04:24hit a good length, it was difficult. You know, the odd ball was going down. We saw from the

04:30Pakistan spinners as well that when they slowed the ball up especially, it would hold in the

04:36surface and there was a bit of turn there. And when they fired it through a little bit

04:41quicker, it was skiddy. So it wasn't easy. And I thought 280 was a good score and obviously

04:47the way GP and Tommy got things going, it was just brilliant the way that they finished

04:52off the innings. And to get to 320, we all felt that we were slightly ahead of the game

04:57at that point. But in the same breath, as you say, Pakistan chased down 350 on the same

05:02wicket. So we knew we had to start well and thankfully we did that and managed to keep

05:07it going. I can hear you.

05:34I forgot my words? Or should I repeat it? I'll repeat it again. So it's regarding, yesterday

05:41I've asked Tom Latham also regarding pitch behavior. And I've asked him that pitch behavior

05:47in the second session will be difficult for the batting. And we have seen today it was

05:51the same. So it is too early to say about the group winner.

06:18We've got Bangladesh next and then Islamabad. And then we've got India, our third game in

06:25Dubai. So just game at a time. Obviously it's nice to get that first game under the belt

06:30with the win. But we travel to Islamabad tomorrow and got to prep for a different side. And

06:36obviously we're fully prepared for Bangladesh to suit these conditions and be a really tough

06:44team to beat. So, yeah, just focusing on our next objective there is to beat Bangladesh.

06:51Death, taxes and Glenn Phillips backies. How does he keep doing it?

06:58Good question. He's a special man, Glenn Phillips. He's got a very unique diving style, doesn't

07:06he? He lets the ball come and just seems to pluck it out of the air, especially square

07:11the wicket. He's so, so good. So, yeah, obviously the huge wicket of Rizwan, again, was key.

07:17And it just put the icing on the cake of our power play, really, as well. 20-odd for two

07:23is a lot different to one down. So, yeah, fair play to Glenn. Well done.

07:30Well, Tom Latham said yesterday that what was satisfying was different guys had come

07:33to the fore in every single match. And given you didn't quite have the try series, perhaps

07:38you would have wanted. Was there perhaps a little bit of extra pressure on you after

07:41the big occasion in the last three innings?

07:44Yeah, perhaps. You try not to think too much about what's happened in cricket. The next

07:52game is the most important one. And if you've got the opportunity to play, you want to make

07:56the most of it. But, yeah, I mean, your form goes sort of up and down. But I was pretty

08:04keen to stick to what I know I can do well, win that straight battle, wait for them to

08:11miss the lines or the lengths, and go from there. And thankfully, yeah, thankfully I

08:17managed to get it done today. But, yeah, it's certainly nice to get some runs after a lean

08:21try series.

08:22Awesome. Thanks, everyone.

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