Pakistan beat Nepal by 238 runs in 2023 Asia Cup opener

 Pakistan yesterday beat Nepal by 238 runs in the opening match of the 2023 Asia Cup.

Batting first Pakistan scored 342 for the loss of six wickets and Nela was bowled out for 104.

Earlier on a number of individual and team landmarks were overhauled during the Pakistan batting innings against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opener at Multan.

Babar Azam won the toss and invited Nepal to take the field on what appeared to be a decent batting strip. The Asia Cup debutants showed discipline in the initial overs and controlled the scoring rate.

The No. 1 ranked player in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Rankings for batters, Babar is in a league of his own with a whopping 100 rating points separating him and the next batter on the list. And if the Asia Cup opener was any indicator, the gap will only continue to grow as the tournament progresses.

Babar notched up his 19th ODI century in the 42nd over. He also became the fastest to 19 ODI hundreds. With this, he stands second in the list of Pakistan century-makers in ODI cricket. This was also his 31st international hundred, which equals him to Pakistan legends Javed Miandad and Saeed Anwar.

Babar’s 151 off 131 balls was not only his second-highest ODI score but also the second-highest score by an individual batter in Asia Cup history.  At the other hand, Iftikhar achieved his highest score in ODI cricket. His unbeaten 109, which came off just 71 balls, was also his maiden ODI century.

Nepal team failed to live up to the dominant Pakistan challenge.

Aarif Sheikh (26) and Sompal Kami (28) were the top scorers.

Pakistan’s Shadab Khan excelled with 4 for 27 whilst Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf took two wickets each.