The bowlers, including both pacers and spinners, kept to the fundamentals and struck at regular intervals to defend a modest 286. Captain Babar Azam should have been obviously pleased.
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At the ICC Cricket World Cup at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in this city on Friday, Pakistan's bowling attack improved, with pacer Haris Rauf being the best of them with three for 43, to ensure the team's campaign began in style with an 81-run victory over Netherlands.
It is obvious that captain Babar Azam should have been pleased with the manner the bowlers—both pacers and spinners—kept it simple and struck frequently.
Vikramjit Singh, the opener, and Bas de Leede, who each made a half-century and added 70 runs for the third wicket, batted brilliantly, but the remainder of the lineup struggled to put runs on the board.
In the 24th over, Vikramjit, who had just reached his fifty-fifth run, couldn't resist the urge to attempt another huge shot off leg-spinner Shadab Khan and was eventually caught in the deep, leaving the Netherlands three down for 120.
The other batters then made a brief appearance, as de Leede helplessly observed from the opposite end. The outcome was also predetermined when he was dismissed in the 34th over while attempting to direct left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz to third man, bringing the score to 164 for 7.
Prior to this, Pakistan was reduced to 286 in 49 overs by Netherlands' disciplined bowling on a nearly perfect batting strip. Pakistan was put in to bat in front of an estimated 5,000 spectators.
Pakistan was 38 for three after early setbacks in 9.1 overs.
Fakhar Zaman failed once more in the fourth over after being caught off guard by Logan van Beek's shift in direction.
Babar was soon caught at mid-wicket after Colin Ackermann, an off-spinner, forced him to make a bad pull stroke. Then, with Pakistan in serious trouble, pacer Paul van Meekeren forced Imam-ul-Haq to hook straight to deep fine-leg.
Pakistan eventually posted a tough total with the help of a 120-run partnership off 114 balls between the seasoned Mohammad Rizwan and southpaw Saud Shakeel, as well as another successful rescue effort from Nawaz and Shadab, who put on 64 runs off 70 balls for the seventh wicket.
The Netherlands' bowler de Leede delivered two double strikes, the first in the 32nd over when he dismissed Rizwan with a stunning delivery and the second when he caused Iftikhar Ahmed to edge a ball away to wicketkeeper Scott Edwards. Then, in the 44th over, he caught Hasan Ali leg-before after bowling Shadab for a duck.
Pakistan eventually reached 286, which was more than enough, after scoring an additional 34 runs for the final two wickets.
