PAK vs NEP: Watch - Haris Rauf Dismantles Aarif Sheikh's Stump With A Thunderbolt In Asia Cup 2023

The 29-year-old Pakistan National Cricket Team express pacer Haris Rauf dismantled the stumps of the 25-year-old Nepal National Cricket Team batsman Aarif Sheikh in the Asia Cup 2023 opener at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, August 30.

Rauf, who has been in sensational form lately, once again looked threatening with the ball. The Nepal batters looked rattled against Rauf’s express pace in the match. The right-arm pacer started off by picking his first wicket of the match in the 15th over.

Rauf made life hard for Aarif in the 15th over and bowled three dot balls, before castling him on the fourth delivery. The pacer banged a good length delivery on the middle stump and the Nepal batter backed away to slash hard, missed it completely and the ball destroyed his stumps. Aarif Sheikh scored scratchy 26 runs off 38 balls, with 5 fours.

Rauf picked his second wicket of the match by dismissing Sompal Kami in the 17th over as the wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan grabbed a terrific catch behind the stumps.

Watch – Haris Rauf Dismantles Aarif Sheikh’s Stump

I RAUF YOUUUUUUU pic.twitter.com/rm3ZU3hMBL

— faamia (@papukashmiri1) August 30, 2023

Chasing the target, Nepal were at 87/5 in the 20th over with Gulsan Jha and Dipendra Singh Airee struggling against the deadly Pakistan bowling unit.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and posted 342/6 on the board. The top performers for the side in the batting department were skipper Babar Azam and middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed.

Babar Azam finished his innings with 151 runs off 131 balls, including 14 fours and 4 sixes, and he also stitched together an outstanding 214 runs in 131 balls with Iftikhar Ahmed. Meanwhile, Iftikhar Ahmed scored an unbeaten 109 runs off 71 balls, including 11 fours and 4 sixes.

The Pakistan captain completed 19 ODI tons in 102 innings and became the fastest to achieve the feat. Overall, he is the second-highest century hitter for Pakistan in ODIs, only behind Saeed Anwar, who hit 20 tons in ODIs in 244 innings.