Babar and his men clinched their first victory of the World Cup 2023 in style as they defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs. During the second inning of the game, Pakistani fast bowler Haris Rauf engaged with one of the Dutch players who came to bat at number 11.
Haris Rauf was decisive in changing the game’s momentum towards Pakistan when the Dutch had full control of the chase. His second spell was quick and full of energy which perished Captain Edwards and Nidamanuru in the same over.
It was Rauf’s energy which shifted the flow of the game towards Pak’s favour. His 2 wickets in quick succession put on the break on Netherlands innings who were once looking very solid. He took three wickets in his spell and conceded only 43 runs.
Haris Rauf and Paul van Meekeren engaged in a heated argument
While Pakistan was cruising towards victory and was only left to dismiss the last batter, a verbal banter started between Netherlands Van Meekren and Haris Rauf. The incident took place when Rauf bowled a pacy length delivery to Van Meekren who is not known for his batting skills.
https://twitter.com/hassaan_says_/status/1710529388700119100
Van Meekren tried to leave the ball which was just an inch above his stumps. The Pakistani fast bowler was charged up and was breathing fire throughout the game which got him a bit frustrated when the number 11 batter left his delivery confidently.
Haris Rauf exchanged a few words with Van Meekren after the delivery which Meekren wanted to avoid as he told Rauf to walk back to his delivery stride. On the very next delivery, Rauf bowled at full pace on length which the Dutch smashed away for a boundary.
The boundary fumed Rauf with anger as in the very next over of his spell he destroyed Van Meekren’s furniture with an absolutely quick full-length delivery. The fast bowler had the last laugh and celebrated it in an exciting fashion as well by punching the air with passion.
Pakistan beat Netherlands by 81 runs
The Pakistani side has started off well in the tournament after a disappointing last month. Despite the top-order failure, the middle order made a recovery partnership in which Saud Shakeel and Muhammad Rizwan contributed 128 runs together in the partnership.
Both Rizwan and Suad Shakeel scored 68 runs each after their team was 38-3 at one stage. Due to their brave effort, Pakistan posted a total of 286 runs which the Netherlands couldn’t chase and lost the match by 81 runs.
