Kathmandu, Aug 30: Nepal has received a victory target of 343 runs, set by Pakistan in the inaugural match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament that began in Pakistan today. Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan scored 342 runs riding on 151 runs in 131 balls by Pakistani captain Babar Azam. Iftikar Ahmed scored 109 runs in just 71 balls to give Nepal an improbable target to register a victory.
Mohammad Rizwan scored 44 runs, as the hosts put up a huge target at the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs.Though starting well, taking 4 Pakistani wickets by the 28th over, Nepali bowlers failed to keep the momentum and the 5th wicket partnership of 200 runs in 125 balls between Babar Azam and Iftikar Ahmed did the damage, giving an almost impossible target to Nepal in its maiden match in the Asia Cup.
Sompal Kami took 2 wickets and Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane took one wicket each, but failed to stop the Pakistani batsmen from scoring heavily in the second half of the innings.The match is taking place in Multan, and Nepali batsmen will have to score at the rate of more than 6.8 runs per over to get anywhere close to the Pakistani total.
Comments