Hyderabad, Oct 7: Pakistan began their World Cup campaign on a winning note, going past a fighting Netherlands by 81 runs here on Friday.
Pakistan made 286 all out in 49 overs as wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan (68 off 75 balls) and Saud Shakeel (68 off 52 balls) helmed their innings on either side of a batting collapse.
Netherlands were then bowled out for 205 in 41 overs.
Babar Azam, Pak.skipper said, ‘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.’
Saud Shakeel , Player of the Match, said, 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.