In the opening match of the Asia Cup, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam made the decision to bat after winning the toss against debutants Nepal. Both teams are part of Group A, which also includes India, and the top two teams from this group will advance to the Super 4 stage. Nepal’s captain, Rohit Paudel, expressed the significance of this opportunity for his country to compete against cricket powerhouses.
Nepal earned their place in the Asia Cup by triumphing over the United Arab Emirates in the qualifying final. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s recent 3-0 victory over Afghanistan helped them secure the top spot in the ICC’s ODI rankings. For this match, Pakistan fielded a strong playing XI with key players such as Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah forming a potent pace attack.
The playing XIs were as follows:
Pakistan:-
Fakhar Zaman
Imam-ul-Haq
Babar Azam (c)
Mohammad Rizwan (w)
Agha Salman
Iftikhar Ahmed
Shadab Khan
Mohammad Nawaz
Shaheen Afridi
Naseem Shah
Haris Rauf.
Nepal:-
Kushal Bhurtel
Aasif Sheikh (w)
Rohit Paudel (c)
Aarif Sheikh
Kushal Malla
Dipendra Singh Airee
Gulsan Jha
Sompal Kami
Karan KC
Sandeep Lamichhane
Lalit Rajbanshi
Pakistan (50 ovs maximum)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c †Aasif Sheikh b Karan KC | 14 | 20 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 70.00 | |||
| run out (Paudel) | 5 | 14 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 35.71 | |||
| c sub (S Jora) b Sompal Kami | 151 | 131 | 187 | 14 | 4 | 115.26 | |||
| run out (Airee) | 44 | 50 | 66 | 6 | 0 | 88.00 | |||
| c Bhurtel b Lamichhane | 5 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 35.71 | |||
| not out | 109 | 71 | 102 | 11 | 4 | 153.52 | |||
| b Sompal Kami | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 200.00 | |||
| Extras | (lb 1, nb 2, w 7) | 10 | |||||||
TOTAL | 50 Ov (RR: 6.84) | 342/6 | |||||||
Nepal (T: 343 runs from 50 ovs)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c †Mohammad Rizwan b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 200.00 | |||
| c Iftikhar Ahmed b Naseem Shah | 5 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 | |||
| lbw b Shaheen Shah Afridi | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| b Haris Rauf | 26 | 38 | 66 | 5 | 0 | 68.42 | |||
| c †Mohammad Rizwan b Haris Rauf | 28 | 46 | 72 | 4 | 0 | 60.86 | |||
| c Fakhar Zaman b Shadab Khan | 13 | 23 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 56.52 | |||
| b Mohammad Nawaz | 3 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 27.27 | |||
| c Iftikhar Ahmed b Shadab Khan | 6 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 150.00 | |||
| b Shadab Khan | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| not out | 7 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 116.66 | |||
| lbw b Shadab Khan | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| Extras | (lb 4, w 4) | 8 | |||||||
TOTAL | 23.4 Ov (RR: 4.39) | 104 | |||||||
