Pakistan vs Nepal, Asia Cup 2023: Full List of Award Winners, Man of The Match, Post Match Presentation

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Pakistan vs Nepal, Asia Cup 2023: Pakistan crushed Nepal by a huge 238-run margin in the opening match of the Asia Cup in Multan on Wednesday. After amassing 342 for 6 batting first, Shaheen Shah Afridi struck twice in the first over as Nepal were eventually bowled out for 104.

Shadab Khan claimed 4/27 from his 6.4 overs while Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf bowled impressive spells. Aarif Sheikh (26) and Sompal Kami (28) tried to delay the inevitable but Nepal were bundled out in only 23.4 overs.

Earlier, Pakistan posted a massive total after Babar Azam scored 151 and Iftikhar Ahmed made an unbeaten 109, while adding 214 runs for the fifth wicket.

Brief scores: Pakistan 342 for 6 in 50 overs (Babar Azam 151, Mohammad Rizwan 44, Iftikhar Ahmed 109 not out; Sompal Kami 2/85) beat Nepal 104 in 23.4 overs (Sompal Kami 28; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2/27, Haris Rauf 2/16, Shadab Khan 4/27) by 238 runs.

Pakistan vs Nepal, Asia Cup 2023 Award Winner

Player Of The Match: Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Pakistan vs Nepal, Asia Cup 2023 : Who Said What
Babar Azam, Pakistan captain and POTM: "(On the phases of his innings) When I went in, I played myself in for a couple of balls. Ball wasn't coming on, pitch was two-paced. Rizwan and I built a partnership and see what happened.

"Then, there were different phases. Sometimes, Rizwan gave me confidence and vice-versa. When Iftikhar came, we played different cricket. He can struggle a bit before he gets set. I asked him to play his natural game.

"After two-three fours, he was comfortable. He smacked it after 40 overs. (On bowling performance) I'm satisfied. A couple of overs we were not up to the mark. Pacers started well, spinners struck too. This game was good preparation for the India game because it gave us confidence. We want to give 100% every match, hope to do that there as well."

Rohit Paudel, Nepal Captain: "We started well. We restricted them to under 240 with the ball but let ourselves down with the bat. Wicket-taking balls weren't there in the middle overs, credit goes to Babar and their team as well. Learning from the game is we need to improve in the death overs, and we need to do well with the ball."