World Cup 2023: Netherlands invite Pakistan to bat first in opening match

World Cup 2023: Netherlands invite Pakistan to bat first in opening match
Source: twitter

Hyderabad: Pakistan's Cricket World Cup campaign has started today with their opening match against Netherlands who have won the toss against Pakistan, decided to bowl and invited Pakistan to bat first.

Netherlands captain Scott Edwards while talking at the toss, said he chose to field first because he believes it would be easy to bat under lights here at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. 

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Edwards said that he was hopeful of a good performance against Pakistan team because they've played against Pakistan a lot in recent years. 

On the other hand, Pakistani skipper Babar Azam said that they will be looking to set a target of 290-300. 

This is the seventh time Pakistan and the Netherlands are facing off each other in an ODI, and Pakistan have come out victorious every time.

Since arriving in the city late last month, which also marked the first instance of a Pakistan men’s side landing in India in seven years, the team has made the most of the training sessions and two warm-up games to get used to in the city.

Pakistan are scheduled to play the first two of their nine league matches in Hyderabad.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf.

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Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (wk, c), Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren