Pakistan bat first against Nepal on 'dry and shiny' Multan pitch

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Nepal need 325 runs from 46.3 overs.

50 overs Pakistan 342 for 6 (Babar 151, Iftikhar 109*, Kami 2-85) vs Nepal

Babar Azam put up a masterclass in ODI batting as he scored 151 off 131 balls to lift Pakistan up to 342 for 6 in the opening match of the 2023 Asia Cup.

Batting was tricky in Multan and Nepal had made early breakthroughs to leave Pakistan in a precarious position. During that time, Babar consolidated the innings, taking 72 balls to reach his fifty. Gradually increasing the tempo, he took just 37 balls to move from 51 to 100. Once he reached his hundred, he went into the T20 mode and smashed 51 off the next 22 balls.

Suryakumar Yadav, on Monday, said that ODIs force one to bat like all three formats. On Wednesday, Babar showed how to do it.

He and Iftikhar Ahmed, who smashed an unbeaten 109 off 71, added 214 off 131 balls in a fifth-wicket stand that went from good to better to best.

Nepal were making their Asia Cup debut, and playing against Pakistan for the first time in any format. That inexperience, and probably the nerves, showed multiple times during the innings. Early on, Sompal Kami and Karan KC drifted down the leg side every now and then. Fakhar Zaman picked up two leg-side boundaries off Kami in the first three balls of the innings but the slowness of the pitch and some good fielding came to Nepal's rescue.

With the ball not coming onto the bat, both Fakhar and Imam-ul-Haq struggled for timing. When Fakhar threw his bat at a length ball from Karan, and got a thick outside edge, the wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh stretched to his left to grab the catch with both hands.

In the next over, Imam hit one hard towards mid-off and set off for a quick single. Rohit Paudel fielded the ball, took aim and nailed the direct hit. Imam was so far short of the bowling crease that he didn't even wait for the TV umpire's decision.

With Pakistan 25 for 2, Mohammad Rizwan joined Babar in the middle, and the two started rebuilding the innings. Playing risk-free cricket largely and still picking up a boundary here and there, they took the side to 100 in the 22nd over.

But then Nepal struck back, once again via their fielding. This time Dipendra Singh Airee, from cover, hit the stumps at the bowler's end to find Rizwan's bat and both feet in the air as the batter tried to avoid getting hit by the throw. Had Rizwan run normally and grounded his bat, he would have been safe. He made 44 off 50 balls.

Agha Salman tried to be positive. In his first three balls, he attempted a sweep from well outside off and a reverse sweep. Neither shot fetched him any runs, though. Three overs later, he tried another reverse sweep, off Sandeep Lamichhane, but failed to keep it down and was caught at short third.

At 124 for 4, Pakistan were in trouble but Babar was unperturbed. Against spin, he used the cut shot well to rotate the strike, and reached his fifty in 72 balls.

While Nepal fielded like the World XI at certain times, they looked like Ilford Second XI at others. Having dropped Imam on 5 earlier, they put down Babar on 55, not to mention several other causal efforts resulting in misfields.

Babar made them pay. He started finding the boundary with increasing frequency and got to his hundred in 109 balls. Fittingly, it was another cut shot against spin that took him to the milestone.

After that, he really opened up. In the 45th over, he hit Kami for 4, 4 and 6 off successive balls before smashing back-to-back sixes off Lamichhane.

At the other end, Iftikhar was batting in a manner even more brutal. In fact, it was his knock that allowed Babar to shift the gears gradually.

Iftikhar attacked right from the moment he came to the crease. He hit the first six of the innings when he launched Kami over deep midwicket in the 35th over, and then sped to his fifty in 43 balls. It took him just 67 balls to bring up his maiden ODI hundred against a helpless Nepal attack. In all, Iftikhar hit 11 fours and four sixes as Pakistan ransacked 129 in the last ten overs.

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