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A triangular ODI series is a curiosity that belongs in a museum more than it does in 2025. Pakistan last hosted one in 2004, and there have been none in the ODI format anywhere since 2019. When this particular series was announced not long ago, it stood out-it is the only ODI tri-series in the current FTP.
Pakistan, New Zealand, and South Africa will play a truncated version of the classic tri-series, with just one round of matches followed by a final. The schedule was likely squeezed by the SA20 at one end and the Champions Trophy at the other, and it is that upcoming ICC event-the first hosted by Pakistan in nearly three decades-that gives the series context.
While South Africa's squad is weakened by player commitments at the SA20 and injuries, Pakistan and New Zealand, who take each other on in the opener, have pretty much full-strength sides. Both have named near-identical squads for this series and the Champions Trophy and had two practice sessions at the rebuilt Gaddafi Stadium, which will officially be inaugurated on Friday, on the eve of the first game.
For each side, it offers the opportunity for precious match practice in conditions where the Champions Trophy will be held in the main (with India's matches in Dubai). Pakistan and New Zealand will also open the marquee tournament, though that game will take place in Karachi and not Lahore. Both have played exactly nine ODIs each since the end of the 2023 World Cup and all in very different conditions to this. While Pakistan won each of their three recent ODI series, New Zealand fell short in the one they played in the subcontinent, a 2-0 reversal against Sri Lanka.
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