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Asia Cup: Nepal fail in trial by fire after initial success
31 Aug, 2023
Nepal bowlers begin well against Pakistan in the Asia Cup only to flounder later against an inspired Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed
For a brief while when they removed the two Pakistani openers or when they took two wickets in the space of four overs between the 24th and 28th, Nepal looked like they can stretch their host if not surprise them in the Asia Cup tournament opening game, in Multan.
But then they encountered the class of Babar Azam, who batted calmly and then unleashed strokes towards the end along with middle-order batsman Iftikhar Ahmed. The two added 214 for the fifth wicket, the third highest in ODI Asia Cup for any wicket (according to Cricbuzz statistics) with Iftikhar tonking the fourth fastest fifty in ODI Asia Cup (according to Cricinfo statistics).
Babar made 131-ball 151 while Iftikhar ended at 71-ball 109.
The duo helped Pakistan reach 342/6 in 50 overs, a tall ask for Nepal, who were making their debut in Asia Cup. Medium-pacers Sompal Kami (2/85) and Karan Khatri Chhetri (1/54) shared three wickets while leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane took 1/69.
The start by the Nepalese batsmen was good with two fours off the first two balls of the first over of the innings bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi. But two wickets on the last two balls of that very first over pegged them back. Opener Kushal Burtel (8), who’d hit the first two fours, and No. 3 and skipper Rohit Paudel (0) were those back in the pavilion in the opening over.
Soon opener Aasif Sheikh (5) was dismissed by pacer Naseem Shah and Nepal had backs to the wall at 14/3.
No. 4 Aarif Sheikh (26) and No. 5 Sompal Kami (28) added 59 for the fourth wicket to bring respectability to the total but after their dismissals in the space of two overs, Nepal folded for 104 runs in 23.4 overs. Leg-spinner Shadab Khan took 4/27 while Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf took one wicket each.
Nepal next play India in the last league game of Group A on September 4 in Pallekele, Sri Lanka.
Brief scores: Pakistan 342/6 (Babar Azam 151, Iftikhar Ahmed 109, Muhammad Rizwan 44) beat Nepal 104 all out in 23.4 overs (Sompal Kami 28, Aarif Sheikh 26, Shadab Khan 4/27, Haris Rauf 2/16, Shaheen Afridi 2/27)
cricket, Asia Cup, Nepal, Pakistan, Babar Azam