PAK vs NEP

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 Fakhar Zaman  c †Aasif Sheikh b Karan KC 14 20 26 3 0 70.00 Imam-ul-Haq  run out (Paudel) 5 14 32 1 0 35.71 Babar Azam (c) c sub (S Jora) b Sompal Kami 151 131 187 14 4 115.26 Mohammad Rizwan † run out (Airee) 44 50 66 6 0 88.00 Agha Salman  c Bhurtel b Lamichhane 5 14 13 0 0 35.71 Iftikhar Ahmed  not out 109 71  102 11 4 153.52 Shadab Khan  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 Kushal Bhurtel  c †Mohammad Rizwan b Shaheen Shah Afridi 8 4 4 2 0 200.00 Aasif Sheikh † c Iftikhar Ahmed b Naseem Shah 5 5 11 1 0 100.00 Rohit Paudel (c) lbw b Shaheen Shah Afridi 0 1 2 0 0 0.00 Aarif Sheikh  b Haris Rauf 26 38 66 5 0 68.42 Sompal Kami  c †Mohammad Rizwan b Haris Rauf 28 46 72 4 0 60.86 Gulsan Jha  c Fakhar Zaman b Shadab Khan 13 23 32 0 1 56.52 Dipendra Singh Airee  b Mohammad Nawaz 3 11 17 0 0 27.27 Kushal Malla  c Iftikhar Ahmed b Shadab Khan 6 4 13 0 1 150.00 Sandeep Lamichhane  b Shadab Khan 0 2 1 0 0 0.00 Karan KC  not out 7 6 9 1 0 116.66 Lalit Rajbanshi  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