Babar and Iftikhar’s storm blows Nepal away, Pakistan gets off to a flying start in Asia Cup

Multan. Pakistan Cricket Team has started the Asia Cup 2023 with a bang. The Babar Azam-led team has given opposition teams a warning by defeating Nepal by a wide margin in the opening match. Babar Azam’s captaincy innings and Iftikhar Ahmed’s brilliant century saw Pakistan defeat Nepal by 238 runs. With this win, Pakistan has 2 points. Babar’s side will now take on Sri Lanka in their second match at the Pallekele International Stadium on Sunday (September 2).

Chasing the target of 343 runs given by Pakistan, the Nepalese team could score only 104 runs in 23.3 overs. For that, Sompal scored 28 runs while Ashif Sheikh scored 26 runs. Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf took 2 wickets each for Pakistan. Nepal did not start well and lost wickets at regular intervals. Nepal were 3 for 14, including the wickets of opener Kushal Bhurtel, captain Rohit Paudel and Asif Sheikh. Kushal was dismissed for 8 runs while Sheikh scored 5 runs. Rohit could not even open an account. Dipendra Singh returned to the pavilion after scoring 3 runs.

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Babar and Iftikhar shared 214 runs
Pakistan scored 342 for 6 on the back of centuries by captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed and a partnership of 214 off 131 balls for the 5th wicket. This is the first ODI between the two countries and the Pakistan batsmen took full advantage of the inexperience of the Nepali bowlers. Nepal’s fielders performed poorly and allowed Pakistan’s batsmen to score 25 to 30 more runs. Babar scored 151 runs in an innings of 131 balls with the help of 14 fours and four sixes while Iftikhar scored 109 runs in an unbeaten innings of 71 balls with the help of 11 fours and four sixes.

Babar scored the fastest 19th ODI century
This is Iftikhar’s maiden ODI century, while Babar became the youngest batsman to complete 19 centuries in the shortest innings. Babar took 104 matches and 102 innings to reach his 19th century. Earlier this record was held by South African Hasim Amla who completed this milestone in 104 innings. India’s charismatic batsman Virat Kohli has now slipped to the third position in this list. Kohli scored his 19th ODI century in 124 innings.

For Nepal, Sompal Kami took two wickets while Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane took one wicket each. Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat. Sompal and Karan bowled tight, which benefited Nepal in the sixth over. Fakhar Zaman (14) was caught by wicketkeeper Asif Shaikh on Karan’s ball. In the next over, Imam-ul-Haq (five) returned to the pavilion after being run out on a precise throw from captain Rohit Paudel.

Pakistan completed 100 runs in 22nd over
After this, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan concentrated on batting carefully. Pakistan’s most reliable pair were at the crease and after 10 overs the team was 44 for two. Rizwan opened the innings with fours against Lalit Rajbanshi and Sandeep Lamichhane, while Babar also scored a four off Lamichhane.

Babar completed the team’s century by hitting a four off Dipendra Singh Ari in the 22nd over. Rizwan hit Lamichhan for a four in the 24th over but could not complete his half-century as he was run out on the next ball. He hit six fours in a 50-ball innings. Rizwan and Babar laid the foundation for a big score by putting on 86 runs off 106 balls.

Babar Azam completed his 19th ODI century in the 42nd over.
Lamichhane dismissed Agha Salman (five) to give Pakistan their fourth blow. Iftikhar hit the first six of the innings against Sompal Kami on the first ball of the 35th over, Babar also hit a four in the same over. Pakistan completed 200 runs with Iftikhar hitting a four off Lamichhan in the 38th over. Babar completed his 19th century in ODIs by taking two runs off Dipendra in the 42nd over. In the same over, Iftikhar also completed his fifty in 43 balls.

Iftikhar scored his maiden ODI century in 67 balls
Babar hit a six against Gulshan Jha while Iftikhar hit a six against Dipendra which took the team past the 250-run mark in the 44th over. The Pakistani captain hit two fours and a six off consecutive balls against Sompal in the 45th over. The team scored 20 runs in this over. He hit two consecutive sixes off Lamichhane in the next over.

Meanwhile, Iftikhar kept up his aggressive streak with a six and a four against Sompal in the 48th over, while Babar completed his 150 with a 129-ball single. Iftikhar hit a four, a six and then a four off Karan in the 49th over to bring up his maiden ODI century in 67 balls.

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Tags: Asia Cup, Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nepal, Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi