Hyderabad, 6 October 2023: Pakistan kicked off their ICC Men’s World Cup campaign with a win over the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Pakistan were playing the World Cup on Indian soil for the first time in over twelve years.
Pakistan began their innings with a bumpy start losing three wickets in the first ten overs. However, tables turned quickly during the middle overs when the partnership of Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel yielded 120 runs and helped the team consolidate their position.
Openers Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman did not make much of a mark scoring 15 off 19 and 12 off 14 respectively. Skipper Babar Azam entered the fray in the fourth over and only managed to get five runs off 18 balls before getting caught by Saqib Zulfiqar.
The Rizwan-Saud partnership provided the team with much needed stability, taking Pakistan’s tally to 158. Rizwan managed to get 68 runs off 75 balls while Saud pulled off 68 from 52 deliveries. Iftikhar Ahmed managed to get only nine runs off 11 balls before being dismissed by Bas de Leede.
Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan were able to hold their ground with Nawaz making 39 (43) and Shadab making 32 (34). Pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf made useful contributions for the final wicket to lift Pakistan to 286 all out in 49 overs.
Hasan Ali dealt a blow to the opposition’s opening partnership by claiming the scalp of Max O’ Dowd when the latter had made only five runs from 12 balls. His partner Vikramjit Singh played on for 67 balls making 52 runs before being caught by Fakhar Zaman off the bowling of Shadab Khan.
Iftikhar bowled out Collin Ackermann while Mohammad Nawaz claimed the scalp of de Leede who had managed to make 67 off 68 balls – the highest for Netherlands in their innings.
Haris Rauf, in an impressive display of bowling prowess, claimed three wickets, that of Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards and Paul van Meekeren while Hasan walked away with two scalps, that of O’Dowd and Aryan Dutt.
Pakistan succeeded at bowling out Netherlands for 205 in 41 overs and pulling off a stellar victory with a margin of 81 runs.
Scores in brief:
Pakistan beat the Netherlands by 81 runs
Pakistan 286 all out in 49 overs (Saud Shakeel 68, Mohammad Rizwan 68; Bas de Leede 4-62, Colin Ackermann 2-39)
Netherlands 205 all out in 41 overs (Bas de Leede 67, Vikramjit Singh 52; Haris Rauf 3-43, Hasan Ali 2-33)
Player of the match – Saud Shakeel (Pakistan)
