Centuries from captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed guided hosts Pakistan to an enormous 238-run win over Nepal within the opening match of the 2023 Asia Cup on the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Asia Cup 2023: Full Coverage
Babar gained the toss for his facet and opted to bat first. Pakistan misplaced the wickets of openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam ul Haq in fast succession and had been left reeling at 25 for two after 6.1 overs.
However, an vital partnership between skipper Babar Azam and wicket-keeping batter Mohammad Rizwan acquired their innings again on observe. The two batters stitched an 86-run stand earlier than Rizwan departed after scoring 44 runs off 50 balls.
Babar then shaped a game-changing partnership with Iftikhar to show the tide of the match. The two batters caught round for a 214-run stand which noticed each batters rating centuries.
While Babar grew to become simply the second batter to cross the 150-run mark in Asia Cup historical past after India’s Virat Kohli, Iftikhar scored his maiden century within the 50-over format. And what a century it was, because the middle-order batter acquired to the landmark in simply 67 deliveries, making him the fourth quickest batter and second-fastest Pakistani to attain a century within the Asia Cup.
In reality, Iktikhar and Babar’s partnership of 214 runs is the best partnership for fifth wicket within the Asia Cup. He remained unbeaten on 109 runs off 71 deliveries, smashing 11 boundaries and 4 sixes. His effort helped Pakistan submit 342 for six on the scoreboard after 50 overs in Multan.
Nepal’s batting unit crumbles in Multan
Pakistan began the second innings on the entrance foot with fast-bowler Shaheen Afridi choosing two wickets within the very first over, sending opener Kushal Bhurtel and captain Rohit Paudel again to the pavilion. The onslaught continued as pacer Naseem Shah eliminated Aasif Sheikh within the very subsequent over to go away Nepal reeling at 14 for 3.
Following an underwhelming begin, Sompal Kami and Aarif Sheikh shaped a 59-run stand to settle Nepal’s innings. However, pacer Haris Rauf struck twice in fast succession to ship each Kami and Aarif again. Kami scored 28 runs off 46 balls, whereas Aarif hit 26 runs off 38 deliveries.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz joined the occasion within the twenty first over, dismissing Dipendra Singh Airee to say his first wicket of the night. 17-year-old Gulshan Jha was the subsequent to fall after Zaman took an incredible catch off Shadab Khan’s bowling.
Shadab then cleaned up spinner Sandeep Lamichhane as Nepal edged nearer to an enormous loss of their first-ever Asia Cup match. Shadab then made fast work on Nepal’s tail-enders, bowling the guests out for 104 runs in 23.4 overs to information his facet to an enormous 238-run victory.
Following their win in opposition to Nepal, Pakistan will flip their consideration in direction of rivals India, with the 2 sides set to conflict in a heavyweight matchup on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Edited By:
Rounaq Sehrawat
Published On:
Aug 30, 2023
