Pakistans bowling attack led the charge with the improvised gameplay, with pacer Haris Rauf being the pick of them scalping three important wickets, to ensure Pakistans campaign began in style with an 81-run victory over Netherlands in the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday.Skipper Babar Azam should have been satisfied with the bowlers performing well, who never let the Dutch batters settle in and stuck wickets at regular intervals.As it happenedOnly Vikramjit Singh and Bas de Leede showed some steam to fight, who scored half-centuries and put on 70 runs partnership for the third wicket. The duo batted well but couldnt get enough support from the rest of the batting line-up.End of a great fightback by Bas De Leede….!!!!– 4 wickets with ball.– 67 runs from 68 balls with bat. He is the present & future of Netherlands, incredible incredible player – one of the finest all round performances in World cup. pic.twitter.com/xKoxGn8Qab— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 6, 2023Leg-spinner Shadab Khan scalped the wicket of set batter Vikramjit and provided the breakthrough for Pakistan in the 24th over to leave the Netherlands three down for 120.Dominant showing in our first #CWC23 outing 👏All the bowlers chipped in to put up a clinical performance 🙌#PAKvNED | #DattKePakistani | #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/2YEOcuhMfX— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 6, 2023Although, Bas de Leede held one end but didnt get support from fellow teammates. Pressure kept mounting on him and eventually, de Leede got bowled trying to steer left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz to third-man in the 34th over to make it 164 for seven making the Dutchs sink in further.Earlier, a disciplined bowling effort by the Netherlands helped them to restrict Pakistan to 286 in 49 overs.Pakistan suffered early blows and lost three top-order batters in Powerplay making the scorecard read 38/3 in 9.1 overs.The Netherlands have been economical and effective in the first powerplay in ODIs this year, and they continued the trend by dismissing the big fishes of the Pakistani batting line Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Imam-ul-Haq within the first 10 overs.Pakistani skipper failed to reach the double-digit mark and was dismissed for 5 runs off 18 deliveries by allrounder Colin Ackermann.Fifties for Rizwan and Saud ShakeelSaud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan have since steadied the middle order following the failure of top-order batters for Pakistan in Hyderabad. The pair went on to dominate the Netherlands for the rest of the first half of the innings, eventually getting to their respective fifties.Stepping up for his side ✨@iMRizwanPak slams his 13th ODI fifty 👏#PAKvNED | #DattKePakistani | #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/KMCN15cLF8— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 6, 2023Saud Shakeel got there in just 32 balls, the second-fastest half-century by any Pakistan batter in the history of the Cricket World Cup. The pair put up 120 runs partnership for the fourth wicket off just 114 balls before Shakeel fell to Aryan Dutt at the personal score of 68.However, allrounder Bas de Leede was the leading wicket-taker from the Dutch side. After the dismissal of Shakeel, Bas de Leede dismissed the settled batter Rizwan, and experienced Iftikhar Ahmed shortly thereafter.Pakistan was back to being in a shaky spot before allrounder Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz steadied the ship. The pair ended up putting more than 50 runs partnership for the seventh wicket. Eventually, Pakistan were all out for a score of 286.2️⃣8️⃣6️⃣ on the board 🏏@76Shadabkhan and @mnawaz94 with important contributions towards the end after 6️⃣8️⃣ each from @saudshak and @iMRizwanPak 👏#PAKvNED | #DattKePakistani | #WeHaveWeWill pic.twitter.com/WwypcIlfsI— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 6, 2023Brief Scorecard:Pakistan: 286 (10 wkts, 49 Ov), Mohammad Rizwan 68, Saud Shakeel 68, Mohammad Nawaz 39 Bas de Leede 62/4Netherlands: 205 (10 wkts, 41 Ov), Bas de Leede 67, Vikramjit Singh 52, Logan van Beek 28 Haris Rauf 43/3Pakistan won by 81 runs
