The video of power outage during the Pakistan vs. New Zealand match is actually from New Zealand, not Pakistan
A cricket series between Pakistan and New Zealand took place from March 16 to April 5, hosted by New Zealand. It featured 3 ODIs and 5 T20s, with New Zealand securing a dominant victory—3-0 in ODIs and 4-1 in T20s (here and here). Amid this, a video (here, here and here) went viral on social media showing a dramatic moment where a New Zealand bowler delivers a ball to a Pakistani batter and the stadium suddenly plunges into darkness due to a power outage—even the gallery lights go off. The video was shared in a mocking tone, claiming the incident happened in Pakistan. Let’s find out the truth behind this viral clip.
Claim: The video shows a power outage during a Pakistan vs. New Zealand match held in Pakistan.
Fact: The video is actually from New Zealand’s Bay Oval Stadium in Mount Maunganui during the third ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan on 05 April 2025 — not from Pakistan. The incident took place in the 39th over when a floodlight failure briefly interrupted the match. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the claim, we performed a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the viral video posted by Dawn Today on Instagram on 05 April 2025. The caption read: “WATCH: The lights went out during a delivery on Saturday at Bay Oval Stadium in New Zealand’s Mount Maunganui, adding drama to the match between Pakistan and New Zealand, which the Black Caps won by 43 runs, completing a 3-0 series sweep.” This clearly indicates that the incident took place in New Zealand.
We also found the same viral video featured in a YouTube news report by A Sports, uploaded on 05 April 2025, titled “Floodlight Failure During Pakistan vs New Zealand Match.” The report clearly mentioned that the incident occurred at Bay Oval Stadium in New Zealand.
Further research led us to multiple news reports (here, here, here, and here) confirming the incident. During the third ODI on April 5 between Pakistan and New Zealand at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, a sudden floodlight failure occurred in the 39th over of Pakistan’s innings, plunging the stadium into darkness just as Jacob Duffy was about to bowl to Tayyab Tahir. Despite the unusual interruption, New Zealand went on to win the match by 43 runs, bowling out Pakistan for 221 in 40 overs while defending a total of 264 in a rain-shortened 42-over game. With this win, New Zealand completed a 3-0 sweep in the ODI series, having already dominated the T20 series 4-1.
Additionally, reports (here and here) confirm that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is indeed facing a financial crisis, leading to heavy cost-cutting measures like slashing domestic players’ match fees and downgrading facilities. However, the viral video of the stadium blackout during a match has no connection to Pakistan.
To sum up, the viral video showing a power outage during the Pakistan vs. New Zealand match is actually from New Zealand, not Pakistan.