Haris Rauf took three wickets and Pakistan bowlers dismissed the Netherlands for 205 but the Netherlands put up a brave fight in their first match of the ICC World Cup 2023.
Pakistan started their ICC World Cup 2023 journey with an 81-run win over Netherlands, but not before a determined Netherlands gave Babar Azam’s side a win at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad Frightened.
Fast bowler Haris Rauf ended the tournament in the Netherlands by taking three wickets in their 41st over in the southern Indian city on Friday.
All-rounder Bas de Leede shone for the Netherlands, becoming their top scorer with 67 runs after taking four wickets earlier.
Netherlands opener Vikramjit Singh scored 52 and partnered with de Leede for a 70-run stand that could hand Pakistan a crushing defeat in their first match.
Pakistan’s fast bowlers, including Rauf, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, took six wickets to give their team a winning start in the tournament.
Spinners Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz took one each.
Earlier, Pakistan were bowled out for 286 on half-centuries from Saud Shakir and Mohammad Rizwan.
After Shakir’s brilliant 52-ball 68 and Rizwan’s 75-ball 68, De Lid finished with 4-62 to help the Netherlands get back into the match.
Netherlands justified their decision to bat first as pacer Logan van Beek caught out-of-form opener Fakhar Zaman in the fourth over , and scored 12 points.
Spinner Colin Ackermann then took Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s five-wicket haul before Paul van Meekeren dismissed Imam-ul-Haq’s 15 runs saw Pakistan reeling at 38-3.
Shakir and Rizwan, playing their first World Cup match, steadied the innings with a solid 120 for the fourth wicket but three wickets fell in the space of 24 balls Scored 30 points.
Mohammad Nawaz (39) and Shadab Khan (32) scored 64 runs for the seventh wicket as Pakistan improved further but Delied dismissed Shadab and Ha Consecutive shots from San Ali.
Nawaz was dismissed in the 47th over before Haris Rauf dismissed Ackermann to end the innings in the 49th over.
