Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed shared 214 runs partnership for the fifth wicket which in the highest for Pakistan
After a remarkable display of top batting effort, Pakistan has registered the first win of Asia Cup 2023 over Nepal in the first match of the tournament played at Multan Cricket Stadium. After winning the toss, Pakistan decided to bat first and made best of its decision with a high class batting performance, posting 342 runs on the board for the loss of 6 wickets.
After both openers, Fakhar Zaman (14 runs) and Imam-ul-Haq (5 runs) failed at the top, Pakistan looked in trouble and needed a rebuilding phase. Once again, the responsibility was on the shoulders of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, both shared 86 runs partnership to keep the innings steady. After Rizwan fell on 46 due to a runout, Nepal sneaked back in with a crucial wicket of Salman Ali Agha (5 runs) whom Sandeep Lamichhane dismissed.
Babar & Iftikhar Share Record Breaking Partnership
At the end of 28th over, Pakistan found themselves in the middle of a muddle with only 124 runs on board and 4 batters back in the pavallion. Babar Azam stepped up his game and played some beautiful shots to build a momentum for Pakistan, Iftikhar Ahmed was aggresive from get go, intending to not let Nepali bowlers settle and take the advantage of Pakistan’s precarious situation.
Babar brought his century in 109 balls, it was his 19th international ODI career ton, fastest in terms of innings to score 19 ODI tons. As usual, it is Babar Azam and everytime he plays, some new records come into existence or old ones are broken. After completing his century, he pressed the charge and scored 151 runs in 131 balls.
On the other hand, Iftikhar Ahmed couldn’t have find a better moment to bring his first ODI hundred which came in just 68 balls, he really has this reputation of being an aggresive and consistent middle order batter and last 10-12 months have been prolific for him. He concluded his innings with 71 balls 109 as Pakistan scored 192 runs in last 18 overs which allowed them to post a massive 342 runs on the board.
Nepal Succumbed to 104, Pakistan Bowlers Shine
It was always going to be a tough chase for Nepal, but it was an opportunity for them to learn from the game. Shaheen shah Afridi striked twice in the first over and the task became almost non-achieveable for Nepal. The team’s captain Rohit Paudel was dismissed for a duck. Aarif Sheikh and Sompal Kami did try to rebuild the innings, sharing 61 runs partnership but once Pakistan’s speedster Haris Rauf dismissed both batters, Nepal lost 7 wickets for just 31 runs.
Shadab Khan was the pick of the bowler of Pakistan for his 4 wicket haul which he completed in just 6.4 overs. No Pakistani bowler went wicketless, Shaheen and Haris had 2-2 wickets to their name, Naseem and Nawaz got one each and remaining 4 wickets were taken by Shadab Khan. For Nepal, the highest scorer of the team was Sompal Kami who scored 28 runs. In the Pakistan registered an easy 238 runs victoy which has given them the perfect start they needed for Asia Cup 2023 campaign.
1st Match, Group A (D/N), Multan, August 30, 2023, Asia Cup
PAK: 342/6
NEP: (23.4/50 ov, T:343) 104
Pakistan won by 238 runs
