On Friday, October 6 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Pakistan defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs to get their World Cup 2023 campaign off to a terrific start. After being given the opportunity to bat first, Pakistan was dismissed for 286 in 49 overs, with the best scorers being Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, who each scored 68 runs.
In response, the Netherlands were dismissed for 205 runs in 41 overs, with Bas de Leede scoring 67 (68) runs to lead the way. A furious exchange between Haris Rauf and Paul van Meekeren during the game took place in addition to the thrilling cricket play.
The incident occurred when Rauf bowled a bouncer to the Dutch tailender on the fourth delivery of the 39th over of the second innings. After the delivery, the Pakistani speedster approached the batter and spoke briefly. Van Meekeren responded to the fast bowler as well because he was not content to simply stand and listen.
A few words were exchanged before the Netherlands’ batsman responded with his bat two balls later by hitting Haris Rauf for a four on the off side. The winner, though, was Rauf, who gave him an aggressive send-off and destroyed his stumps in the very next over.
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Pakistan chose Haris Rauf as its bowler of choice.
The Netherlands were eliminated for 205 after losing the last of their wickets to Van Meekeren. Haris Rauf, who finished with scores of 3/43 in nine overs, was Pakistan’s top bowler, and Hasan Ali (2/33, 7 overs) also claimed two wickets.
Bas de Leede of the Netherlands was exceptional for his team with the bat and the ball, picking up 4/62 in nine overs while bowling and scoring 67 (68) while batting. He joined former Zimbabwe cricketers Neil Johnson and Duncan Fletcher as the only players to score a fifty and pick up a four-for on their World Cup debut. For his performance of 68 (52) in the first innings, Saud Shakeel was named Player of the Match.