Jaanbaaz Kota Challengers vs Udaipur Lake City Warriors - Commentary

That's all we have from this entertaining game. The second ODI is on Thursday, 18th August at 2.30 pm IST (9 am GMT). Do join us in advance for the build-up. Cheers!

Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, says that they are relieved to get the win and credits the Netherlands for their fight. He calls Fakhar's knock lovely as the pitch was two-paced. Mentions that they took time to build a partnership. Admits that they should have done better with the ball. Tells that he loves to play here as the conditions are challenging.

Scott Edwards, the captain of the Netherlands, says that it hurts to lose another game but feels they are getting closer. Regrets dropping catches and praises the knock of Fakhar Zaman. Mentions that the pitch suited the home team. He is happy with the way they batted and feels that the overs at the backend with the ball cost them. States that they let themselves down in the field after showing improvement in the recent past. He is happy with the bowling performance of Bas de Leede.

Player of the Match is Fakhar Zaman (109). He calls it his lucky day and tells that the wicket was not easy. Praises the Dutch team for their bowling. Feels that they should have done better and credits Netherlands for putting up a fight. Mentions that they were looking to survive initially and then went after the bowlers. Says that he always enjoys batting with Babar Azam and batting looks easy with him around.

Stay tuned for the presentation...

The Pakistan players began with absolute fire and Babar Azam started with the combination of the experienced Haris Rauf and the young debutant Naseem Shah. Both picked up one wicket each in the Powerplay and could probably have got a few more had their fielders held on to the catches. Pakistan were really poor on the field and that prevented them from being clinical and wrapping this game up early. Mohammad Nawaz controlled the middle overs of the game and was economical, picking the only wicket taken by a spinner in the whole game. Haris Rauf picked up three wickets but was a touch expensive and Naseem Shah bowled wonderfully to take three wickets. The biggest issue was the number of extras they conceded with 29 bonus runs added to the Dutch total. They eventually managed to close the game out but will know there is room for improvement in all three departments of the game.

The arrival of the Dutch skipper Scott Edwards, who has had a wonderful summer, kept the hosts on track. He translated his good form to bring up his fourth consecutive ODI fifty. Scott was ably supported by Teja Nidamanuru and Logan van Beek to keep the Netherlands in the hunt. Although the target seemed out of reach, they did well to play out the 50 overs and pushed Pakistan to the limit.

In pursuit of a big target, the Dutch team began tentatively but kept accumulating runs at a steady rate albeit in a streaky manner. Max O'Dowd and Wesley Barresi departed early to leave the Netherlands with quite an uphill task. Vikramjit Singh had a tough outing as he just could not get the spinners away or rotate the strike freely. He survived several drop catches and accumulated many lucky runs but eventually succumbed for 65 having faced 98 deliveries. While he seemed to be blowing cold, Tom Cooper definitely seemed to be blowing hot and provided the much-needed boost to the Netherlands innings. He took 54 deliveries for his 65 and his dismissal brought an end to a 97-run partnership between the two.

Well fought, Netherlands! Well fought, Scott Edwards! They made Pakistan sweat hard for this win. It was not a straightforward win for the visitors, as expected. This performance will certainly boost the confidence of the Dutch team and they will back themselves to cause an upset in the next game. For now, Pakistan bag the 10 points to make their case strong in the 2020-2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League table.

Aryan Dutt makes his way out to the middle and he needs to rotate the strike.

Tim Pringle is the new batter at the crease and he will look to give the captain the strike.