The 2023 Asia Cup-50 over one day international opener between favorites Pakistan and
minnows Nepal played in Multan ,Pakistan went as per the script Wednesday.

As expected,the home team virtually bulldozed hapless Nepal on their way to a massive 238
run victory.

The margin of victory speaks volumes of Pakistan’s total domination and one sidedness nature
of the match.

Although Pakistan’s victory was a foregone conclusion,nobody expected the fixture to pan out
the way it did at the end of the day.

It was a cakewalk for the Pakistanis who dominated the proceedings in every department of the
game without breaking a sweat.

The winners batted and bowled effortlessly throughout in their runaway victory.

The opposition’s high quality performance proved too much to handle for Nepal. Obviously
they lacked the mental toughness and performance to play under pressure and caved in
ultimately.

It was a match they would like to forget.Agreed that they were outplayed by the highly superior
opponent,but it was a below-par performance.They were nowhere near their best and
surrendered meekly.

Pakistan ‘s decision to bat first after winning the toss paid dividends. They amassed a massive
342/ 6 in 50 overs with the help of two centuries from Babar Azam(151) and Iftikhar
Ahmed(109 not out).

The two centurions demolished Nepal’s toothless bowling attack. The partnership between the
two yielded 214 runs for the fifth wicket.

Nepal got off to a surprisingly good start picking up two quick wickets.At that stage of the
game,it seemed unlikely that Pakistan would end up scoring 300 plus runs.

Sloppy fielding and a raft of dropped catches proved their undoing. In the last 15 overs, the
bowlers were totally lost as they came under fierce assault from the marauding batters.

Nepal faced an improbable run chase and defeat was imminent.Given the batting vulnerability
and opponent’s quality bowling attack,the target was out of reach.

From Nepal’s perspective the only interest that remained in the match was, how close they
would get to the total?

Much to our disappointment,what we witnessed was a batting debacle. By and large,it was a
spineless and irresponsible batting performance.They collapsed like a house of cards.

The innings folded up in 23.4 overs with 104 runs on the board.Aarif Sheikh was the sole
recognized batter with a double digit score( 26 runs).

Medium fast pacer Sompal Kami produced an all around performance by topping both bowling(2
wickets ) and batting(28 runs).

Once again the top -order batters not only struggled but failed miserably.A combination of lack
of focus, commitment and confidence, coupled with technical flaws, weak mindset,rash
shots,poor judgment contributed to their downfall.

The repeated failures of batters is a huge concern for Nepal moving forward.The inconsistency
in batting is a major hindrance to their progress in international cricket

.
Batting must improve in order for the team to be on the right track sooner or later.Otherwise,more ignominious defeats will come their way.

Team Nepal should put the latest setback behind them .They must recharge themselves, learn
from repeated mistakes and get back to a fresh start with lots of positivity, confidence and
commitment for the next insurmountable challenge,which is against India.

-By Sushil Thapa,Fairfax,VA