Following his side’s massive 238-run win over Nepal in their Asia Cup 2023 campaign opener, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said that while batting, the ball was not coming on the bat properly initially, but batting with Mohammed Rizwan gave him confidence.
An all-round Pakistan kicked off its Asia Cup 2023 campaign in style as centuries by skipper Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed and fiery spells by Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf helped them crush Nepal by 238 runs in the tournament opener in Multan on Wednesday.
“When I went in, the ball was not coming on properly, so I was trying to build an innings with Mohammed Rizwan. Then we had a different phase, sometimes Rizwan gave me confidence, and sometimes I gave him belief. Iftikhar also played a great innings when he came on. When he came in, I told him to play his natural game and he was comfortable after 2-3 boundaries. After a couple of overs we were not up to the mark, but the way our pacers started and then the spinners were brilliant. This win will give us confidence, India and Pakistan will always bring high intensity, and we will try our best,” said Azam in a post-match presentation.
Babar Azam was also given the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his century. Coming to the match, opting to bat first, Pakistan put on 342/6 in their 50 overs. Pakistan was reduced to 25/2 after Fakhar Zaman (14) and Imam-Ul-Haq (5) were dismissed. Babar Azam then had an 86-run stand for the third wicket with Mohammed Mohammed Rizwan (44 in 50 balls, with six fours) which helped Pakistan get to three figures. After the quick dismissals of Mohammed Rizwan and Agha Salman (5), Pakistan was left struggling at 124/4 and from then on Babar Azam and Iftikhar helped Pakistan recover.
Sompal Kami (2/85), Karan KC (1/54) and Sandeep Lamichhane (1/69) were among the wickets for Nepal. In the chase, Nepal was left at 14/3 initially but a 59-run stand between Aarif Sheikh (26) and Sompal Kami (28) helped them get some temporary respite. But Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan caused more destruction, sinking Nepal to a 238-run loss after bundling them out for 104 in 23.4 overs.
Shadab was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, taking 4/27. Haris Rauf (2/16), Shaheen Afridi (2/27) also picked up two wickets. Also, Mohammed Nawaz got a wicket.
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