Istafa Ali
Pakistan vs Nepal – In the first match of the Asia Cup 2023, which took place on Wednesday at Multan Cricket Stadium, Pakistan beat Nepal by a huge 238 runs.
The home team played a full game and beat the visiting team in every way.
Pakistan was in good shape going into the Asia Cup, and they kept it up by beating Afghanistan 3-0 in Sri Lanka on Saturday. This put them at the top of the ICC rankings for ODI teams.
Pakistan register a massive victory to start off their Asia Cup campaign 💪#PAKvNEP | 📝: https://t.co/1gff7IhTyI pic.twitter.com/Q5RMdNchlB
— ICC (@ICC) August 30, 2023
Shadab Khan got four wickets for his team for only 27 runs. He was a big reason why the Green Shirts won by a big margin, since the guests were all out after scoring only 104 runs.
The best parts of the second innings of the match were Mohammad Rizwan’s brilliant catch behind the wicket and Fakhar Zaman’s amazing catch.
Shaheen Shah Afridi did what he does best and sent back to the dugout two Nepalese openers in the first over.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Pakistan put up a huge score of 342-6 in 50 overs during the first test.
Captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed both had great hundreds that led the way for Pakistan.
Ahmed hit 11 fours and 4 sixes in 71 balls to get to 109 runs without being out.
Azam, on the other hand, was out after hitting 14 fours and 4 sixes for a total of 151 runs in 131 balls.
Hashim Amla’s record was broken when Azam, who is 28 years old, became the fastest player to reach 19 ODI centuries. He did this in just 102 innings, while it took Amla 104 games.
It’s important to remember that Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq were both out when Babar Azam came to bat. At that point, Pakistan was already down by 25 runs and Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq were out.
The 28-year-old stood tall at the plate and made an important 86-run partnership with Mohammad Rizwan before the wicketkeeper hitter was run out in a strange way. In 50 balls, Rizwan got 44 runs.
After Rizwan lost his wicket, Salman Agha (5) came up to bat. He didn’t last long, though, and lost his wicket to Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane when he tried to hit a reverse-sweep shot.
After Agha was out, Iftikhar Ahmed and Azam worked well together to score 214 runs in only 131 balls.
Asia Cup 2023: Schedule, Format, Venue and Background
Nepal and Multan both made their first appearances in the Asia Cup. It was also the first top-level game between Pakistan and Nepal in which Pakistan beat Nepal
Lineups
Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wicketkeeper), Rohit Paudel (captain), Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf.
