World Cup 2023 - Pakistan vs Netherlands Match Highlights

Pakistan defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs in their opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and the second match of the tournament taking place in India.

Despite a great start to their innings, the Netherlands could not hold the momentum and kept losing wickets at regular intervals before they were all-out for 205 runs.

The top-scorers were left-handed opener Vikramjit Singh and all-rounder Bas de Leede, who managed 52 and 67 runs, respectively.

All Pakistani bowlers managed to pick up wickets with Haris Rauf taking three, while Hasan Ali bagging two, and Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Iftikhar Ahmed, all taking one wicket.

Earlier, Pakistan posted a total of 286 despite losing three wickets in the first 10 overs. After winning the toss, Scott Edwards decided to bowl first in Hyderabad. The opening batters were unable to make a significant score with Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, and Babar Azam only managing 12, 15 and 5 runs, respectively.

Muhammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel managed to score half-centuries as both added 68 runs to the total individually, which also gave team Pakistan a fighting chance to set a reasonable target for Netherlands.

Muhammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan also played handy roles as they managed to score 39 and 32 runs, respectively.