Cricket World Cup: Pakistan thrash Netherlands by 81 runs

Pakistan suffered a top-order collapse but a 120-run stand between Mohammed Rizwan and Saud Shakeel helped the Babar Azam-led team to post a challenging total.

Hyderabad:Pakistan beat minnows the Netherlands by 81 runs to register their first win in the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Friday.

Batting first, Pakistan overcame early jolts to post 286 on the board losing all the wickets in 49 overs. Responding to the huge total, the Netherlands batters failed to match the Pakistanis and were skittled out for 205 with nine overs to spare. The Netherlands batters faced problems in dealing with the Pakistani bowlers, particularly Haris Rauf who bagged 3 wickets. Hasan Ali claimed two wickets while highly-rated Shahinshah Afridi scalped one. The losing side batters failed to put up resistance barring Vikramjit Singh (58) and Bas de Leede (67).

Despite early hiccups, Pakistan resurrected their innings thanks to wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan (68) and Saud Shakeel (68) and managed 286 with one over to spare in their ICC World Cup 2023 opener against the Netherlands

Mohammed Rizwan hit eight fours in his 75-ball knock while left-handed batter Shakeel, who was aggressive, hammered nine boundaries and a six in his 52-ball innings. The dup pulled the team out of trouble.

At one point Pakistan were 38 for three with top batters — Fakhar Zaman (12), Imam-ul Haq (15) and captain Babar Azam (5) — back in the pavilion. From there, Rizwan and Shakeel took the baton in their hands to help Pakistan manage a respectable total. Following Rizwan and Shakeel's solid show in the middle order, late surges from Mohammad Nawaz (39) and Shadab Khan (32) prevented the Netherlands from reaping the benefits they earned early in the fixture.

Mohammed Nawaz hammered four boundaries while Shadab Khan hit two boundaries and a six. However, after Shadab departed, the Netherlands quickly wrapped the tail. Dutch quick Bas de Leede was the pick of the bowlers claiming four wickets for 62 runs in his nine overs while Colin Ackermann scalped two.