Asia Cup 2023: With the help of Babar-Iftikhar's centuries and brilliant performance by the bowlers, Nepal got a huge defeat of 238 runs.

 

In the first match of the Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan defeated Nepal by 238 runs with the help of Babar-Iftikhar's century and the brilliant performance of the bowlers. This is Pakistan's biggest win in terms of runs. In this match, none of Nepal's batsmen could last long in front of Pakistani bowlers. At the same time, Nepal also presented a view of poor fielding, due to which they had to face defeat. Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat in this match. 

Pakistan, batting first, scored 342 runs losing 6 wickets in 50 overs. The maximum runs for the team came from the bat of captain Babar Azam. Facing 131 balls, he played a century inning of 151 runs. In this innings, he hit 14 fours and 4 sixes. Apart from him, Iftikhar Ahmed faced 71 balls and played a century inning of 109* runs with the help of 11 fours and 4 sixes. This is Iftikhar's first century in ODIs. Babar and Iftikhar made a partnership of 214 (131) runs for the 5th wicket. Sompal Kami took maximum 2 wickets for Nepal. Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane took one wicket each. 

Chasing the target, Nepal team collapsed on the score of 104 in 23.4 overs. Sompal Kami scored the maximum runs for the team. He contributed 28 runs in 46 balls with the help of 4 fours. Whereas wicketkeeper batsman Asif Sheikh scored 26 runs in 38 balls with the help of 5 fours. Shadab Khan took maximum 4 wickets for Pakistan. Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf got 2-2 wickets. Naseem Shah and Mohammad Nawaz took one wicket each. 

Pakistan's playing XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf. 

Nepal's playing XI: Kushal Bhurtel, Asif Sheikh (wicketkeeper), Rohit Paudel (captain), Arif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Deependra Singh Airey, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi.