Pakistan Secures Convincing 81-Run Victory

Pakistan Secures Convincing 81-Run Victory, Avoiding an Upset against the Netherlands

The second-ranked ODI team opened their account with two points by beating the Dutch.

(Cricket News) Playing an ODI after 11 years on the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan narrowly escaped an upset against the Netherlands in the second game of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The number 2 ranked ODI team slightly struggled with the bat, but their world-class bowling was too good for the Dutch batsman to face.

Winning the toss and choosing to bowl, the Netherlands felt they made a good choice as they picked up quick wickets of Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, and skipper Babar Azam. Pakistan was looking in deep trouble, as they were 43/3 at the end of the first powerplay.

Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel stitched together an important partnership for Pakistan, scoring two fifties each, which brought Pakistan to 158/3 at the end of the 28th over. Saud Shakeel was dismissed by Aryan Dutt, followed by Mohammad Rizwan getting out from Bas De Leede. Iftikhar Ahmed came and went, and Pakistan was 188-6 and in the 32nd over.

Handy contributions from Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan brought Pakistan from 188-6 to 252-8 as Bas De Leede’s reverse swing got the best of Shadab Khan. Pakistan ended up posting a total of 286.

End of first inning: Pakistan: 286-10. Mohammad Rizwan 68 (75); Saud Shakeel 68 (52); Bas De Leede 9-62-0-4; Aryan Dutt 10-48-0-1.

The Netherlands batsman looked in good touch, facing the dangerous Shaheen Shah Afridi, comfortably scoring boundaries, and rotating the strike against him. The returning Hasan Ali drew the first blood, taking the wicket of Max ODowd. Vikramjit Singh and Bas De Leede took charge against the lethal Pakistan bowling attack, scoring fifty each.

The Netherlands looked in control and were on the verge of causing a major upset as they were 114-2 at the 32nd over. Shadab Khan ended the dangerous partnership by getting the wicket of Vikramjit Singh. Soon, the wickets of the Netherlands began to tumble like Dominoes as the game shifted towards Pakistan.

After Bas De Leede was dismissed, the Netherlands looked unlikely to win, and they ended up getting all out for 205-10 at the end of the 41st over.

End of second inning: Netherlands: 205-10. Bas De Leede 67 (68); Vikramjit Singh 52 (67); Haris Rauf 9-43-0-1; Hasan Ali 7-33-1-3.