Pakistan began their World Cup 2023 campaign with a bang, defeating Netherlands by 82 runs on Friday at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in India.
Pakistan was completely back in the game after the bowlers put the Dutch on the ropes, taking back-to-back wickets.
With this victory, the Men in Green made history by claiming their first World Cup victory on Indian soil.
Dominant showing in our first #CWC23 outing ????
All the bowlers chipped in to put up a clinical performance ????#PAKvNED | #DattKePakistani | #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/2YEOcuhMfX
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 6, 2023
Despite a steady start, the Green Shirts’ quick dismissals sent the batters stumbling, and they were all-out for 205 runs.
Vikramjit Singh, a left-handed opener, and all-rounder Bas de Leede led their teams in scoring with 52 and 67 runs, respectively.
Meanwhile, all six of Pakistan’s bowlers took wickets, with Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf each taking two and Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Iftikhar Ahmed each taking one.
Earlier, Pakistan posted a total of 286 after Babar Azam’s men lost three wickets in the first ten overs but produced a commendable comeback thereafter.
Scott Edwards chose to bowl first after winning the toss in Hyderabad.
However, Skipper Babar Azam’s dream of scoring 300 runs was dashed when the Netherlands limited the Green Shirts to 286 in 49 overs.
Saud Shakeel hit a half-century in 37 balls, while Babar Azam was dismissed for five runs in 18 balls.
The middle-order duo of Mohammed Rizwan and Shakeel led the charge, while Shadab Khan and Mohammed Nawaz came in handy with the bat later on to help Pakistan reach a potentially match-winning total.
After the visitors were six wickets down after 37 overs, Pakistani vice-captain Shadab Khan took charge of their first innings.
Shadab Khan walked into the middle, took his time with a few deliveries, and kept the strike rotating with some timely boundaries. He easily reached 22 points on 21 deliveries. But it’s his first and second sixes from Pakistan’s innings that stand out.
In the meantime, Mohammad Nawaz scored 39 runs off 43 balls.
When asked to bat first, Pakistan rode half-centuries from Mohammad Rizwan (68) and Saud Shakeel (68) to post a solid total. Bas de Leede returned four wickets for the Netherlands, while Colin Ackermann took two wickets.
To read our blog on “NZ defeats ENG in first match of the ICC World Cup,” click here
