Pakistan vs Netherlands 2nd ODI 2022, (NED vs PAK)
Babar Azam was also thinking the same before the first ODI against Holland, but despite the absence of the services of seven key players, the performance that Holland gave was unexpected and a 'wake-up call' for Babar Azam.
It is as a result of this 'wake-up call' that the Pakistani team performed well in the second ODI on Thursday to win by seven wickets, which was laid by the bowlers.
In the first match, Pakistani bowlers were able to prevent the host team from crossing the target, in the second match, they prevented the host batsmen from scoring big. The Dutch team, who scored 298 in the first match, this time scored 186 runs in the 45th over.
Scott Edwards won the toss and elected to bat first, but early overs from Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf spoiled the Dutch batting.
Naseem Shah also seems to be adopting Shaheen Shah Afridi's habit of taking a wicket in his first over. On the very first ball of his first over, he had Vikramjit Singh, who scored a half-century in the previous match, caught for one run by Mohammad Rizwan.
In the previous match, Naseem Shah took the wicket of Max O'Dowd in his very first over, who this time fell victim to Haris Rauf. Had Fakhar Zaman not dropped the catch of Bass de Ledde in the second slip, Haris Rauf would have got the second wicket as well.
In the next over, Naseem Shah bowled Wesley Barisi and gave another blow to Holland. This was Holland's third wicket for just eight runs.
However, Naseem Shah will have to control his no-ball spending spree as this no-ball cost him a wicket. He caught Tom Cooper on his own ball but this momentary joy was lost to Noball.
Holland scored 35 runs for the loss of three wickets in the powerplay but then Tom Cooper opened his arms. After hitting Shadab for a six, he hit Mohammad Wasim for three consecutive fours. He completed his second and tenth half-century of the series by hitting Shadab Khan for a four.
The fourth-wicket century partnership between Cooper and Bas de Ledde was starting to heal the early wounds when Cooper was given a simple practice catch off his own ball to Muhammad Nawaz on an individual score of 66 runs.
The biggest blow for Holland was captain Scott Edwards being caught by Rizwan off Nawaz for just five runs. It was Edwards' first failed innings after three consecutive half-centuries against England and a half-century in the previous match.
Unfortunately for Holland, in the very next over, Teja Ndamanuru was also caught by Rizwan off the ball of Haris Rauf.
With three wickets falling for just 11 runs, the Dutch team was once again on the backfoot.
The hosts would have been bowled out for less than 186 if Bas de Lady had not resisted. Lyde played the best innings of his ODI career scoring 89 runs which included three sixes and two fours.
The spin troika of Shadab, Nawaz and Khushdil got four wickets for 98 runs in 22 overs, with Nawaz's name listed ahead of three, but the real work was shown by Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.
Haris Rauf took three wickets while Naseem Shah was responsible for sending two batsmen to the pavilion.
A disappointing start but a brilliant ending
The start of Pakistan's innings was no different from Holland's. Vivian Qingma sent both openers back to the pavilion in her single over. Fakhar Zaman, the century maker of the previous match, scored three runs and was caught by Vivian King Ma.
After seven consecutive innings of more than fifty runs, Imam-ul-Haq failed in the second match as well. In the previous match, he was dismissed for two runs, this time he was caught by Van Beek at point for six runs.
After losing two wickets for eleven runs, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan managed to add 88 runs to the score. Babar Azam was once again the main character in this partnership.
He scored 57 runs with the help of seven fours and was caught by De Ledde off the ball of Aryan Dutt, then the responsibility of taking the team to the destination had fallen on Muhammad Rizwan and Agha Salman.
Rizwan avoids getting stumped by Aryan Dutt's ball at the score of 18. He also looked in trouble on the bowling of Pringle, but later regained confidence and not only managed to complete his sixth half-century in ODIs but also took the team to the finish line.
He scored an unbeaten 69 runs with the help of six fours and a six. This innings was also important for him because in the previous sixteen innings he had managed to score only two fifties.
Agha Salman got a full chance to showcase his talent today and he did not disappoint his team. He remained unbeaten by scoring 50 runs with the help of two sixes and five fours. This is only his second ODI.
The duo added 92 runs to their partnership, maintaining an average of over eight runs per over. When Pakistan won the match, 98 balls were still left
SQUADS
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Abdullah Shafique, Shaheen Afridi. , Mohammad Haris, Zahid Mahmood, Shahnawaz Dahani
The Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Wesley Barresi, Bas de Leede, Tom Cooper, Scott Edwards(w/c), Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Aryan Dutt, Vivian Kingma, Musa Ahmed, Ryan Klein, Shariz Ahmad, Arnav Jain
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