Hyderabad, India, October 06, 2023: Pakistan managed to defeat the Netherlands by 81 runs in their first match of the World Cup 2023, with Saud Shakeel being awarded the man of the match for his outstanding 68-run innings.
The second match of the ICC World Cup 2023 was played in India’s Hyderabad, Deccan, where the Pakistani bowlers successfully defended a total of 284 runs and bowled out the Netherlands’s team for 205 runs in 41 overs.
The batting allrounder – Bas de Leede and opening batsman – Vikramjit Singh was the top performer from the Netherlands side contributing 67 runs and 52 runs respectively.
Max O’Dowd scored 5 runs before becoming Hassan Ali’s target, while Colin Ackermann was bowled by Iftikhar Ahmed for 17 runs. Captain Scott Edwards was dismissed without scoring any runs.
From Pakistan’s side Haris Rauf was the top performer as he took three wickets, Hassan Ali sent two players to the pavilion, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Iftikhar Ahmed each claimed a wicket for Pakistan.
The Pakistan cricket team had set a target of 287 runs for the Netherlands to chase in 50 overs.
Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan both played outstanding innings of 68 runs each, however, the opening batsman Fakhar Zaman, again remained unsuccessful, managing only 12 runs before being caught out, while Imamul Haq was dismissed for just 15 runs.
Captain Babar Azam was out for 5 runs, Iftikhar Ahmed scored 9 runs, Mohammad Nawaz played an innings of 39 runs, and Shadab Khan was bowled out after making 32 runs.
The Netherland’s all-rounder – Bas de Leede – took four wickets for his team.
Prior to the match, Dutch captain Scott Edwards, after winning the toss, mentioned that they have been playing matches against Pakistan for the past few years, and this experience will be beneficial to restrict Pakistan to a low score.
On the other hand, the national team captain Babar Azam stated that Fakhar and Imam will open today’s match. They will put up a good performance and aim to set a target of over 290 runs.
