Asia Cup 2023: Dominant Pakistan crush Nepal to script winning start

MULTAN: Pakistan bowling unit decimated Nepal after centuries from captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed as the host kicked off their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with a statement 238-run victory.

NEP 104 (23.3 Overs)

Shadab continues

NEP 103/8 (23 Overs)

Nawaz continues

NEP 92/8 (22 Overs)

Shadab bowls round the wicket

NEP 90/6 (21 Overs)

Nawaz into the attack now

NEP 88/5 (20 Overs)

Shadab continues to bowl

NEP 86/5 (19 Overs)

Haris continues to bowl

NEP 84/5 (18 Overs)

Shadab continues

NEP 82/5 (17 Overs)

Haris again

NEP 82/4 (16 Overs)

Shadab continues to bowl

NEP 76/4 (15 Overs)

Haris bowls again

NEP 73/3 (14 Overs)

Shadab continues

NEP 66/3 (13 Overs)

Haris continues

NEP 64/3 (12 Overs)

Shadab Khan into the attack now

NEP 56/3 (11 Overs)

Haris Rauf comes into the attack

NEP 47/3 (10 Overs)

Naseem continues to bowl

NEP 46/3 (9 Overs)

Shaheen continues around the wicket

NEP 42/3 (8 Overs)

Naseem continues

NEP 36/3 (7 Overs)

Shaheen bowls again

NEP 28/3 (6 Overs)

Naseem continues

NEP 26/3 (5 Overs)

Shaheen Afridi again

NEP 23/3 (4 Overs)

Naseem continues

NEP 18/3 (3 Overs)

Shaheen continues

NEP 14/3 (2 Overs)

1.4: A length ball in the channel, Aasif looks to drive without getting to the pitch of the ball and gets a thick outside edge to hand a regulation catch to Iftikhar at first slip.

Naseem Shah to bowl from the other end

NEP 10/2 (1 Over)

0.6: A fuller delivery, with a hint of late swing. The ball thudded into Paudel’s front pad well before he could bring his bat down. Shaheen gets his second.

0.5: Shaheen hits back after conceding two boundaries and gets yet another wicket in the first over. A length ball down the leg side and Bhurtel could only get an edge on it, Rizwan dived across to pouch it with both hands.

Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh come out to open the innings for Nepal. Shaheen Shah Afridi to bowl the first over.

PAKISTAN vs NEPAL (2nd INNINGS)

MULTAN: Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed’s tons powered Pakistan to a mammoth 342 runs against Nepal in the first match of the ongoing ACC Men’s Asia Cup on Wednesday.

PAK 342/6 (50 Overs)

Sompal to bowl the final over

PAK 331/4 (49 Overs)

Karan KC continues

PAK 313/4 (48 Overs)

Sompal comes back again

PAK 301/4 (47 Overs)

Karan KC returns

PAK 294/4 (46 Overs)

Lamichhane comes back

PAK 275/4 (45 Overs)

Sompal replaces Gulsan

PAK 255/4 (44 Overs)

Airee continues

PAK 242/4 (43 Overs)

Gulsan continues

PAK 228/4 (42 Overs)

Airee returns

PAK 222/4 (41 Overs)

Gulsan replaces Karan

PAK 213/4 (40 Overs)

Rajbanshi replaces Lamichhane

PAK 208/4 (39 Overs)

Karan KC returns

PAK 204/4 (38 Overs)

Lamichhane continues

PAK 196/4 (37 Overs)

Sompal again

PAK 190/4 (36 Overs)

Lamichhane comes back

PAK 180/4 (35 Overs)

Sompal continues

PAK 167/4 (34 Overs)

Kushal Bhurtel comes back into the attack

PAK 157/4 (33 Overs)

Sompal Kami replaces Karan

PAK 152/4 (32 Overs)

Rajbanshi continues

PAK 143/4 (31 Overs)

Karan KC continues

PAK 139/4 (30 Overs)

Rajbanshi comes back into the attack

PAK 133/4 (29 Overs)

Karan KC comes back into the attack

PAK 125/4 (28 Overs)

25.5: Salman goes for the reverse sweep but fails to keep it down and Bhurtel takes a low, diving catch.

Lamichhane continues

PAK 122/3 (27 Overs)

Rajbanshi continues

PAK 120/3 (26 Overs)

Lamichhane continues to bowl

PAK 116/3 (25 Overs)

Rajbanshi continues

PAK 112/3 (24 Overs)

23.4: Rizwan took an evasive action to get out of the line of the ball, but a direct hit at the non-striker’s end sent him back.

Lamichhane returns to the attack

PAK 105/2 (23 Overs)

Rajbanshi continues

PAK 102/2 (22 Overs)

Airee continues

PAK 96/2 (21 Overs)

Rajbanshi replaces Lamichhane

PAK 91/2 (20 Overs)

Airee continues

PAK 84/2 (19 Overs)

Lamichhane continues

PAK 83/2 (18 Overs)

Airee continues

PAK 78/2 (17 Overs)

Lamichhane continues

PAK 75/2 (16 Overs)

Dipendra Singh Airee replaces Rajbanshi

PAK 72/2 (15 Overs)

Lamichhane continues

PAK 65/2 (14 Overs)

Lalit Rajbanshi continues

PAK 64/2 (13 Overs)

Sandeep Lamichhane comes into the attack

PAK 56/2 (12 Overs)

Lalit Rajbanshi continues

PAK 49/2 (11 Overs)

Gulsan Jha continues

PAK 44/2 (10 Overs)

Lalit Rajbanshi comes on from the other end

PAK 38/2 (9 Overs)

Gulsan Jha comes into the attack

PAK 32/2 (8 Overs)

Karan KC continues

PAK 29/2 (7 Overs)

6.1: A direct hit and Imam-ul-Haq has already started walking back

Sompal Kami continues

PAK 25/1 (6 Overs)

5.3: Fakhar Zaman departs courtesy of an excellent catch behind the stumps. A length ball bowled at 132kph and angled across. Fakhar plants his front foot down the ground instead of towards the ball and throws his hands at it. A thick outside edge to the left of the wicketkeeper

Karan KC continues

PAK 21/0 (5 Overs)

Sompal Kami continues

PAK 16/0 (4 Overs)

Karan KC continues from the other end

PAK 11/0 (3 Overs)

Sompal Kami continues

PAK 11/0 (2 Overs)

Karan KC to bowl from the other end

PAK 9/0 (1 Over)

Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman come out to open for Pakistan.

Sompal Kami to bowl the first over.

PAKISTAN vs NEPAL (1st INNINGS)

MULTAN: Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first against Nepal in the first match of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023.

PLAYING XIs

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.

Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi

READ: Anamul Haque replaces Litton Das in Bangladesh squad for Asia Cup

Asia Cup 2023: Pakistan win toss, elect to bat first against Nepal

MULTAN: Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first against Nepal in the first match of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023.

PLAYING XIs

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.

Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi

READ: Anamul Haque replaces Litton Das in Bangladesh squad for Asia Cup

India’s squad for Asia Cup 2023 unveiled

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday, announced the squad for the upcoming ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023, commencing on August 30.

The 17-member Indian contingent saw the return of middle-order batters KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer making their returns to the ODI side after being declared fit to play the Asia Cup.

Jasprit Bumrah has also returned to the ODI team after making his T20I return in the ongoing T20I series against Ireland. Bumrah last played an ODI game in July last year against England, before being ruled out with a back injury, which kept him out of action for almost a year.

Young batting prodigy Tilak Varma also received his maiden ODI call-up, after impressive performances in the T20I series against West Indies.

India will kick off their Asia Cup with the much-anticipated clash against Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy.

The arch-rivals Pakistan and India will come face to face again on September 10 in Colombo if both manage to qualify for the Super 4s.

India’s Squad

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.

Travelling reserve: Sanju Samson

This year’s Asia Cup will commence with host Pakistan taking on Nepal in the curtain raiser on August 30 in Multan.

Pakistan will host a total of four matches including a Super 4s fixture, while the rest of the games including the final will be played in Sri Lanka.

The upcoming edition of the Asia Cup features six teams, divided into two groups, the top two teams from each group will then qualify for the Super 4s. The continental event will run from August 31 to September 17.

Hosts Pakistan are placed in the same group as arch-rivals India and Nepal while the other group includes defending champions and co-hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Asia Cup 2023 will be played in the ODI format and will serve as an opportunity for the Asian teams to bolster their preparations for the upcoming ICC Men’s World Cup.

READ: Pakistan thump India in World Blind Games

Tickets for Asia Cup 2023 Sri Lanka leg go on sale

LAHORE: The ticket sale for the Sri Lanka leg of the upcoming ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023 have started today at 12 pm (noon) PST, as announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday.

The announcement was made through the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official social media platforms.

The second phase of ticket sales for the Sri Lanka leg will commence at 6:30 pm PST on 17 August. This second phase of ticket sales will include the much-awaited fixture between Pakistan and India on 2 September.

Nine matches will be held in Sri Lanka, including the final. The Sri Lanka leg will begin with the home side taking on Bangladesh at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on 31 August.

Last week, the tickets for the Asia Cup matches in Pakistan were put on sale. This year’s Asia Cup will kick off with host Pakistan taking on Nepal in the curtain raiser on August 30 in Multan.

Pakistan will host a total of four matches including a Super 4s fixture.

India’s group stage matches including the anticipated clash against Pakistan, scheduled on September 2, will be held in Kandy while the rest of the Super 4s matches, including the final will be played in Colombo.

The arch-rivals Pakistan and India will come face to face again on September 10 in Colombo if both manage to qualify for the Super 4s.

Like the previous edition, the Asia Cup schedule holds a possibility of treating the cricket fans with a maximum of three Pakistan-India matches in a single tournament if both arch-rivals, in a first, simultaneously qualify for the final.

The upcoming edition of the Asia Cup features six teams, divided into two groups, the top two teams from each group will then qualify for the Super 4s. The continental event will run from August 31 to September 17.

Hosts Pakistan are placed in the same group as arch-rivals India and Nepal while the other group includes defending champions and co-hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Asia Cup 2023 will be played in the ODI format and will serve as an opportunity for the Asian teams to bolster their preparations for the upcoming ICC Men’s World Cup.

READ: Head coach Grant Bradburn aims for improvement in the ‘middle overs’