Pakistan vs Netherlands, World Cup 2023 Match 2: Awards List, Man of The Match, Key Stats, Presentation Ceremony

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Pakistan vs Netherlands, World Cup 2023 Match 2: Pakistan registered an 81-run win against Netherlands in their first match of the World Cup 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday, October 6.

Netherlands gave Pakistan a major scare but the Men in Green held their nerves to fight back and edge past the 14th ranked ODI team in the world. Pakistan were bundled out for 286 in 49 overs after being asked to bat first.

Pakistan top three of Fakhar Zaman (12), Imam-ul-Haq (15) and Babar Azam (5) departed inside 10 overs after the spinners created pressure. It was then that Mohammad Rizwan (68) and Saud Shakeel (68) forged a 120-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

However, once Aryan Dutt (1/48) removed Shakeel, Bas de Leede (4/62) dismissed Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed (9) in quick successions to leave Pakistan reeling at 188/6.

Pakistan's second recovery was led by Mohammad Nawaz (39) and Shadab Khan (32) who joined forces to partner for extremely crucial 64 runs off 70 balls.

Nawaz got run out, while Shadab was clean bowled by De Leed. Also, off-spinner Colin Ackermann contribute hadsomely with the ball for Netherlands, he picked two wickets including that of Babar Azam in his eight overs which saw him give away just 39 runs.

Hasan Ali struck in the sixth over to remove Netherlands opener Max ODowd (5 off 12). Iftikhar Ahmed struck in the 12th over to remove Ackermann (17 off 21) and reduced Netherlands to 50/2 in 11.1 overs.

However, Vikramjit Singh (52) kept going from one end and forged a 70-run partnership with Bas de Leede (67) for the third wicket. Netherlands were going strong at 120/2 in 23.4 overs and Pakistan looked in trouble.

But Shadab Khan opened the floodgates by dismissing Vikramjit in the 24th over. Haris Rauf (3/43 in nine) was introduced and he did not disappoint. He picked three wickets including that of Teja Nidamanuru (5) and captain Scott Edwards (0). Netherlands were soon rolled over for 205 in 41 overs.

Pakistan vs Netherlands World Cup 2023: Full List of Awards

Player of the Match: Saud Shakeel (PAK) for scoring 68 runs off 52 balls.

Pakistan vs Netherlands, World Cup 2023: Who Said What?

Babar Azam (Pakistan Captain): The way Hyderabad supports us, we are very happy. Our team is enjoying the hospitality. Pretty satisfied, credit to the bowlers, the way started well and the way we took wickets in the middle overs. We lost three wickets, the way Rizwan and Saud batted put pressure on the Netherlands. Saud built his innings and played well. He has improved a lot. Our bowlers bowled very well, we stuck to our plans, Haris bowled quick and took wickets.

Scott Edwards (Netherlands Captain): Firstly, a little bit disappointing. Think we bowled a fielded really well. Credit to Pakistan, they batted well in the end. Felt the total was par, we felt we were in the game when we were on 120. Captaincy is a bit about instinct, lot of options out there. Bas de Leede is fantastic in all three departments of the game. Just needed someone to go with him. Haven’t spoken to van Beek, we’ll assess that and see where it goes. Probably one that got away, we were in a pretty good position. They just took a few wickets in the middle there.

Saud Shakeel (Player of the Match): Tried to be positive and score runs for the team. Nerves were there, we lost 3 wickets but I was fortunate enough to get early boundaries. We knew the pressure would go back to them if we got a start. I think the last 2-3 months I’ve been playing hard, I knew I’d bat number 5 for Pakistan and have been developing my shots according to that - sweeps and reverse sweeps. Thanks to the crowd as well, and I want to thank my coach as well for helping me out.

Pakistan vs Netherlands World Cup 2023: Key Stats

• Pakistan have defended ODI World Cup targets in excess of 275 on 14 out of 14 occasions
• Tim and Bas de Leede are the only father and son duo who both have four-wicket hauls at the ODI World Cup. Tim de Leede picked four wickets for 35 runs in Netherlands' first match of the 2003 World Cup against India.
• Bas de Leede is the youngest player in ICC Cricket World Cup history to pick 4 wickets and score a fifty in the same match.