Fakhar Zaman 109 and Babar Azam 74 lift Pakistan to 314 against Netherlands

A 168-run stand between Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam for the second wicket was the bedrock of an innings that saw Pakistan post 314 for 7. Fakhar scored his seventh ODI hundred, and Babar eased to yet another half-century, but just when it looked as if the pair were gearing up for a huge death-overs onslaught, Netherlands hit back with a flurry of wickets. A late cameo from Shadab Khan put Pakistan back on course somewhat and ensured they crossed the 300 threshold.

On what looked a particularly tempting surface to bat on - both Babar and Scott Edwards said they fancied setting a target - Pakistan won the toss and went in first. They began excessively cautiously, scoring just three runs in the first four overs, and slipped to 10 for 1 when an off-colour Imam ul Haq was trapped in front by Vivian Kingma.

Pakistan v/s Netherlands

Babar's arrival settled some nerves, though he, too found it difficult to start, with Bas de Leede, by some distance the best Dutch bowler on the day, beating the outside edge on a couple of occasions. Once set, however, three fours in the tenth over gently tugged the momentum towards Pakistan.

Netherlands looked particularly toothless in the middle overs - though in fairness, most bowling sides do against Pakistan's top three. Fakhar displayed ominous rhythm, and when he heaved Kingma over the on side for the game's first six in the 26th over, only for Babar to follow it up with one in the next over, the huge score Pakistan were tipped to post looked a formality.

That would change when an ill-timed hit from Babar over mid-off off Logan van Beek found Tom Cooper, the Pakistan captain falling 26 short of another hundred. Fakhar made no mistake in getting his in the next over, smashing Aryan Dutt for three fours, only for an ill-judged bit of running to send him back for 109. With Pakistan's shaky middle order was exposed, de Leede and Tim Pringle were able to establish a modicum of control.

But Shadab had other ideas for the death. Capitalising on Netherlands' sloppiness both with ball and in the field, he smashed four fours and a pair of sixes en route an unbeaten 28-ball 48 as Pakistan struck 88 off the last eight overs. Only de Leede was spared punishment, the bowler's unrelenting accuracy and control was difficult to get away even in the 50th over, in which Pakistan squeezed out just seven. It gave them a good enough score their quality fast bowling will feel comfortable defending, without quite putting it completely out of the Netherlands' reach.

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#Fakhar Zaman 109 and Babar Azam 74 lift Pakistan to 314 against Netherlands