Pakistan had victory in the first game of the Asia Cup 2023 where Iftikhar Ahmed claimed his maiden ODI century in 67 balls and joined the elite list of batters to score the fastest hundred in ODI for Pakistan.
Iftikhar joins elite list with maiden ODI Century
Pakistan was scheduled to play in the inaugural match of the continental event against Nepal, where Babar Azam scored his 19th ODI century and Iftikhar Ahmed also scored his maiden ODI century on 67 deliveries.
Iftikhar Ahmed becomes the second oldest player to score his first ODI century for Pakistan. Zaheer Abbas scored his maiden ton in ODIS at the age of 34 in the year 1981 against Australia.
Apart from this, Iftikhar also becomes the fifth joint Pakistani player to score the fastest ODI hundred. Shahid Afridi tops the list in three places with 37,45 and 53 balls. Sharjeel Khan and Basit Ali stand in 4 and 5 places on the list.
On winning the toss, Pakistan captain Babar Azam chose to bat first in the inaugural match of the Asia Cup. But the openers were not impressive as they were sent out on low figures within the completion of the seventh over. With Babar Azam and Rizwan’s Partnership score of 86 runs, Pakistan got back into the competition.
Babar Azam and Iftikhar joined forces and had a partnership score of 214 at 131 balls. Babar Azam had an individual score of 151 runs and was sent out on the last over of their innings. With their impressive partnership, Pakistan was able to keep a huge target of 343 against Nepal.
Unable to fold Pakistan with a low total, Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh opened for Nepal and were sent out with 8 and 5 runs respectively. With captain Rohit Paudel dismissed with a duck by Shaheen Afridi, Nepal was down to 3 wickets scoring only 14 runs in the 2nd over.
Aarif Sheikh and Sompal Kami had scored 26 and 28 runs respectively and were sent out by Haris Rauf. Nepal batters were not able to withstand the bowling attacks of Pakistan.
Shadab Khan was impressive through his bowling as he scalped 4 wickets giving 27 runs in 7 overs. Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf scalped two wickets each. In the end, Nepal had lost all 10 wickets scoring only 104 runs on 23.4 overs.
Pakistan will be playing their second match against India on September 2 at Pallekele International Stadium.
Pakistan players to score fastest hundred in ODI
| Player | Balls | Opponent | Year |
| Shahid Afridi | 37 | Sri Lanka | 1996 |
| Shahid Afridi | 45 | Pakistan | 2005 |
| Shahid Afridi | 53 | Bangladesh | 2010 |
| Sharjeel Khan | 61 | Ireland | 2016 |
| Basit Ali | 67 | West Indies | 1993 |
| Iftikhar Ahmed | 67 | Nepal | 2023 |
