The most-awaited event, the Asia Cup 2023, got into action with the opening encounter between Pakistan and Nepal. The event started with a stunning victory for arch-rivals. Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed, shined with their bats while Pakistan’s bowling attack crushed Nepal’s batting lineup as wrist spinner Shadab Khan went through the opposition’s batting line-up to stun a victory. Babar Azam‘s captaincy too was top-notch.
The 16th edition of the Asia Cup started with an opening clash between two nations at Multan Cricket Ground in Pakistan. The Pakistan team was the favorite to win the tournament as always, and they matched the expectations of their fans and cricket experts as they started with a dominating win.
In the very first match of the Asia Cup 2023, the arch-rival batted first, and the sensational opening pair of Imam-Ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman started the innings, but they could not stretch their knocks long because both the openers went back early in the dressing room.
The dependable duo of Skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan came to the rescue and threaded a little partnership to balance the waving inning, but Rizwan was unlucky and fell six runs short of his half-century as he got run out, and again Pakistan dived into huge trouble, and the stuff continued with the regular fall of wickets in the middle. But Skipper, on the other end, was looking like a solid rock.
Iftikhar also joined Babar Azam to register a brilliant total of 342 for the opposition with the help of their stunning centuries. Babar Azam scored 151 in just 131 balls, on the other hand. Iftikhar justified his place in the team with his stunning century of 109 (71) remaining unbeaten.
In reply, the Nepal team could not stand against the strong bowling line-up of Pakistan, as the team bowled us out for 104 in just 23.4 overs. Shadab Khan was the standout performer with the ball, picking up wickets..
In the post-match presentation, the first centurion of the Asia Cup 2023 said
“When I went in, the ball wasn’t coming on properly, so I was trying to build an inning with Rizwan. Then we had a different phase; we both gave each other confidence. Iftikhar also played a great inning when he came on. When he came in, I told him to play his natural game, and he was comfortable after a few boundaries,”
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