World Cup 2023: Saud Shakeel to the rescue as Pakistan recover from shaky start to defeat Netherlands

Pakistan managed to put the misery of their recent performances, including defeats in the warm-up games, behind with a victory over The Netherlands on Friday. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table Pakistan, thus, succeeded in opening their account on a winning note and got their 2023 ICC World Cup campaign off to a positive start. Given how things had panned out back in the 2019 World Cup in England, a strong start would have been top of the list for the Babar Azam-led side this time around. The Men in Green had been bundled out for 105 in a seven-wicket defeat against the West Indies in their tournament opener back then and would go on to lose three of their first five games. Despite staging a comeback in the second half of the tournament, the early defeats would cost the Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side dear, and that is something that Babar Azam and Co are looking to avoid. While Pakistan do have the two points to their name on the board and have moved to the second spot on the table behind New Zealand, there are a few questions that will need addressing before the 1992 champions face some of the more well-rounded sides in the tournament. Key among those questions is the top-order that didn’t quite show up on the day, and had been found wanting. Had it not been for a rescue act by the middle order, Pakistan might very well have found the going a lot tougher. Top-order collapse Pakistan had a forgettable start after Netherlands captain Scott Edwards invited them to bat. Under-fire opener Fakhar Zaman would steer a short, wide delivery from Aryan Dutt for a four to open his account, and would collect back-to-back fours off Logan van Beek in the following over. It wasn’t long however, before the hero of the 2017 Champions Trophy final would chip the ball back in van Beek’s direction for a simple return catch to depart for a 15-ball 12. There wasn’t much of a counterattack from fellow opener Imam-ul-Haq and skipper Babar Azam thereafter, and the pair went about batting cautiously despite the fielding restrictions. Babar tried shifting gears in the ninth over by attempting to pull a quicker delivery from Colin Ackermann, but would end up hitting it down short midwicket’s throat. Imam would mistime a pull in the following over to get caught at fine leg off a bouncer from Paul van Meekeren. It certainly wasn’t Pakistan’s first collapse in recent memory; they had been reduced to 25/2 against Nepal in the Rhinos’ debut Asia Cup match before Babar and Iftikhar Ahmed turned things around in style. Things didn’t get much better later in the tournament, especially in the Super Four clashes against India and Sri Lanka. Getting reduced to 38/3 against an Associate Nation is far from an ideal start to a World Cup campaign. And it could have been a lot worse had it not been for a rescue act from the middle order in the form of two partnerships — a 120-run fourth-wicket stand between Saud Shakeel and Mohammed Rizwan along with a 64-run seventh-wicket stand between all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan. Shakeel to the rescue The one knock that ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides and played a key role in Pakistan’s turnaround was Shakeel’s counterattacking 68 that came off just 52 deliveries. Until recently, the 28-year-old had been considered a Test specialist and found it difficult to break into the middle-order in Pakistan’s white-ball sides where the likes of Iftikhar and Agha Salman had already cemented their positions and led the charge in the middle overs alongside Rizwan. After opening his account with a boundary on just his second delivery, Shakeel did have a slice of luck early on on 6, getting an outside edge off Dutt’s bowling that nearly resulted in a low catch for Vikramjit Singh at slip. Such reprieves are however, part of the sport and what matters is how batters make the most of it. The southpaw began his acceleration in Overs 22 and 23, smashing a four and a six off left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe from successive deliveries and would follow it up with back-to-back fours off seamer Vikramjit Singh next. Shakeel, who had smashed a magnificent 208 against Sri Lanka in the Galle Test in July, would collect a couple of more boundaries off Saqib Zulfiqar and deservedly brought up his half-century — his second in ODIs — in 32 deliveries. He would have fleeting thoughts of the three-figure mark when he was dismissed in a rather soft manner off Dutt’s bowling, getting a thick top-edge to offer Zulfiqar a sitter at mid-wicket.

Shakeel however, had more than impressed in the opportunity handed to him, and ensured he remained part of the team’s plans going forward with a performance that would later land him the ‘Player of the Match.’ “Tried to be positive and score runs for the team. Nerves were there, we lost 3 wickets but I was fortunate enough to get early boundaries. We knew the pressure would go back to them if we got a start. I think the last 2-3 months I’ve been playing hard, I knew I’d bat number 5 for Pakistan and have been developing my shots according to that - sweeps and reverse sweeps. Thanks to the crowd as well, and I want to thank my coach as well for helping me out,” Shakeel said in the post-match interview. Pakistan would lose three wickets in a space of four overs for 30 runs to suffer a mini-collapse in the middle overs, but the resistance shown by the dependable Nawaz and Shadab not only gave the bowling plenty of cushion, but also showcased the Men in Green’s batting depth. The score of 286 proved more than enough for the Shaheen Afridi-led bowling department, who would skittle the Dutch out for 205 despite a scare in the middle overs in the form of a solid partnership between de Leede and Singh that was worth 70.