Cricket

'Chachu for a reason' - Fans react as Iftikhar Ahmed scores his maiden international hundred off just 67 balls against Nepal in Asia Cup 2023

Iftikhar Ahmed completed his maiden ODI century in the first game of the Asia Cup 2023 against Nepal; he scored century off just 67 balls.

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Daniel S
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Iftikhar Ahmed

Star Pakistan batter Iftikhar Ahmed scored his maiden international century for his side in the first Asia Cup 2023 match against Nepal. Iftikhar played a blistering knock of 109 runs off just 71 balls with 11 boundaries and 4 sixes with the bat. He came to bat in at number 6 for Pakistan after they lost their top four early on the score of 124 runs in 27.5 overs.

The blistering middle-order batter accompanied his skipper Babar Azam till the last over of the first innings. Babar Azam also registered a remarkable century and scored 151 runs off 131 balls with 14 boundaries and 4 sixes. Riding on these two sensational knocks, the hosts managed to post a big total of 342 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Other than these two, it was the wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan who scored 44 runs with six boundaries.

Sompal Kami scalped two wickets for Nepal, alongside one wicket each picked by Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane.

Pakistan dominating Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opener

Coming back to Iftikhar Ahmed, he has also achieved an average of 50.25 in his ODI career with this century in the Asia Cup 2023 opener against Nepal. Now, the 32-year-old batter has 402 runs in 14 innings of the 15 matches, with an average of 50.25, including a century and a half-century.

Iftikhar might be a crucial factor for the men in green in their upcoming iconic and highly anticipated clash against the arch-rivals India. Both teams will play this match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Saturday, September 2. India and Pakistan will be facing each other for the first time in any major international tournament after the historic clash in the T20 World Cup 2022, where India registered a thrilling win.

Speaking of the current action of the inaugural match of Asia Cup 2023 between Pakistan and Nepal, the new entrants have scored and lost 3 wickets just on the score of 5.1 overs while chasing the massive target of 343 runs.

Here’s how fans reacted to Iftikhar Ahmed’s maiden century:

Cricket News Asia Cup 2023 Iftikhar Ahmed Pakistan vs Nepal