On Wednesday, Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed, two Pakistani hitters, tied for the third-highest partnership for any wicket in the tournament’s One-Day International history.
On Wednesday, Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed, two Pakistani hitters, tied for the third-highest partnership for any wicket in the tournament’s One-Day International history. The two were successful in their first match of the Asia Cup 2023 campaign in Multan, against Nepal. At 124/4 in 27.5 overs, Iftikhar came in to help Babar. After that, they were unstoppable in the second part of Nepal’s innings, wreaking havoc on the bowlers. Babar hit 151 off 131 balls with 14 fours and 4 sixes, and Iftikhar hit 109 off 71 balls with 11 fours and 4 sixes for his first century. Both batsmen remained unbroken.
As a fifth-wicket partnership, they tacked on 214 runs. The score is the third-highest for any wicket in One Day Internationals played in the Asia Cup. After Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik’s 223-run stand against Hong Kong in 2004, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammed Hafeez’s 224-run stand against India in 2012 comes in second.
The score of this partnership is the highest ever for the fifth wicket in an Asia Cup match.
Babar and Iftikhar’s partnership is the highest by a Pakistani pair for the fourth wicket or below.
Iftikhar reached his hundred in 67 balls, making his century the fourth-fastest by a Pakistani hitter and coming in at a distant fourth place behind Shahid Afridi’s 37-ball effort.
Pakistan, who won the toss and elected to bat first, scored 342 runs for six in 50 overs. After the dismissal of Fakhar Zaman (14) and Imam-Ul-Haq (5), Pakistan’s score dropped to 25/2.
After that, Babar and Mohammed Rizwan (44 runs off 50 balls, including six fours) put on an 86-run stand for the third wicket to get Pakistan to 100. Pakistan was in a tough spot at 124/4 after the early exits of Rizwan and Agha Salman (5), but they eventually got back on track with the help of Babar and Iftikhar.
After that, Shadab Khan claimed three wickets to help Nepal be bowled out for 104. The other bowlers that were successful were Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, who both took two.
