HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Pakistan overcame top-order batting problems with fast-paced bowling to beat the Netherlands by 81 runs at the Cricket World Cup on Friday.
All-rounder Bas de Leede’s seam bowling took 4-62 to defeat Pakistan for 286 with one ball to spare – Skipper Scott Scott Edwards thought it was a par total after winning the toss and electing to chase. Dry wicket.
De Lid then kept the Netherlands in pursuit with 67 off 68 balls before Pakistan batted on 41 through fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. Defeated the Dutch team with a score of 205 points in the round.
Rauf took 3-43, Afridi took 1-37, Hasan Ali took 2-37 in his first ODI in over a year, Naseem · Naseem Shah has been recalled for the World Cup after missing it due to a shoulder injury.
“To the credit of the bowlers, we started well and took wickets in the middle (overs),” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said. “We lost three wickets while batting, (but) the way Rizwan and Shakir batted, they took it away.”
Vikramjit Singh scored 52 off 67 balls and combined for 70 runs with de Leede, both of whom kept challenging Pakistan spinners in the middle order.
Legspinner Shadab Khan (1-45), who has been in a sluggish bowling form since the Asia Cup, struggled to find his length early on but got the breakthrough when Singh batted deep while playing short to long leg. Unnecessarily big hit.
Rauf then broke free from the Dutch chase and claimed the wickets of Teja Nidamanuru and Edwards in the space of three balls. Rauf should have taken three wickets in four balls but Iftikhar Ahmed lost a regular catch to Saqib Zulfikar at single slip.
With Delied’s partnership depleted, the all-rounder tried to guide left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz but was dismissed at stump before Logan van Beek hit an unbeaten run-out of 28 points, narrowing the gap in defeat.
The Netherlands qualified for the World Cup with a dramatic super win over the West Indies but showed no signs of rust from their victory three months ago and conceded 38-3 in the batting battle. Pakistan team is in trouble.
The world’s top-ranked ODI batsman Babar scored 5 runs as the out-of-form Fakhar Zaman delivered a tame catch to van Beek. Down put up an unusual struggle for 18 balls before off-spinner Colin Ackermann was pulled to short mid-wicket. Imam-ul-Haq was caught on the legs as he pulled Paul van Meekeren in the first 10 overs as the Netherlands kept attacking Pakistan’s The top batsmen struck.
But Saud Shakir and Mohammad Rizwan, both playing their first World Cup, wrote the script for Pakistan’s resurgence with a 120-run partnership, while Edwards kept rotating bowlers without success.
Shakir, who smashed 68 off 52 balls with nine fours and a six, performed well against the spinners. Rizwan scored 68 off 75 balls.
“Trying to follow my fundamentals and be positive and score goals for my team,” Shakir said after being named man of the match in his first World Cup match. “We were nervous when we lost three wickets, (but) I was lucky to get a boundary early. We discussed that if we scored, the pressure would shift, and that did happen.”
Both batsmen were dismissed within four overs, with Shakir sweeping away Aryan Dutt at the top and Rizwan being bowled cleanly by de Lid.
Nawaz (39) and Shadab (32) made cameos before Ackerman ended Pakistan’s innings to boost the total, while tail-enders Afridi and Rauf also took the final wicket An increase of 19 points.
“It’s a little disappointing,” Edwards said. “First of all, we pitched and defended well. We thought they were par. … Delide had a great inning, he just needed someone to be with him.”
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