Cricket Highlights, 30 August: Asia Cup 2023 (Match 1) – Pakistan vs Nepal – Pakistan scored a tremendous victory of 238 runs to kick off the Asia Cup.

Pakistan vs Nepal (Match 1) – Highlights

One of the favorites for the Asia Cup, Pakistan, got off to a tremendous start. Nepal, which is quite weak, could not even compete against Babar Azam’s team. Which led Pakistan, to depart the field with a commanding 238-run victory.

343 runs, with such a humongous target on the head, Nepal first succumbed to Pakistan’s bowlers’ cannon in the opening. To score 14 runs, they lost 3 wickets.

In his first over, Shaheen Shah Afridi began with a couple of boundaries before taking two wickets. The wicketkeeper caught out Kushal Bhurtel (8) of Nepal as soon as his bat touched the ball which was going to the leg side.  Then Rohit Paudel (0) was out with the very next ball by being trapped in LBW. 

In the next over, while driving Naseem Shah’s spell, Aasif Sheikh (5) got caught out by the opposition at First slip.  Then Aarif Sheikh and Sompal Kami made an effort to rebel. In 78 balls, they added 59 runs.

But Nepal’s innings imploded like a house of cards when Haris Rauf returned both set batsmen in his two subsequent overs. Aarif got out with 26 runs and Sompal Kami got out with 28 runs. In 23.4 overs, Nepal was declared out for 104 runs.

Shadab Khan of Pakistan captured 4 wickets for 27 runs. Both Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed two wickets.

Earlier in that match, Pakistan was under a lot of strain when 2 wickets were lost for just 25 runs. From that location situation, they created a mountain of 342 runs for the loss of 6 wickets! Yes, Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed’s double centuries allowed them to make such a large collection.

Babar, the captain of Pakistan, chose to bat first in Multan after winning the toss. First, the wicketkeeper caught out Fakhar Zaman (14) in the sixth over of the innings. Then, Imam-ul-Haq was run out in the following over (5). As a result, Pakistan was under pressure after losing 2 wickets for 25 runs.  

From there, Rizwan and Babar’s resistance started. For the third wicket, they scored 86 runs in total. After that, Rizwan’s mistake in the runout trap caused the pair to finally separate. After hitting six boundaries and scoring 44 runs off of 50 balls, this batsman left for the dressing room.

Agha Salman was unable to stay long after that. Salman (5) got caught out off Sandeep Lamichhane and came back to the pavilion. At that time for 124 runs, Pakistan lost 4 wickets.

After that, a fantastic partnership between Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed began for the fifth wicket. The two batsmen were ruthless to the bowlers of Nepal. With 214 runs from 131 balls, they easily gave Pakistan a big total.

Babar needed 109 balls to reach his 19th ODI century. Then he stretched out his hand and began to hit. Even, Iftikhar was combative right away. He smashed a boundary and with that, off 67 balls he reached his first century in ODIs.

Babar eventually went back to the dressing room with two balls left in the innings to reach his personal milestone of 150. The Pakistani captain scored 151 runs off 131 balls while hitting 14 boundaries and 4 sixes. With 109 runs off 71 balls with 11 fours and 4 sixes, Iftikhar was still undefeated. 

Sompal Kami of Nepal grabbed two wickets but spent 85 runs in ten overs.

Pakistan vs Nepal Scoreboard   

Pakistan – 342/6 (50.0)

Nepal – 104/10 (23.4) 

Result – Pakistan won by 238 runs

Player of the match – Babar Azam

Pakistan vs Nepal Playing XIs