Having kickstarted their Asia Cup 2023 campaign on a bright note, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam revealed that his match-winning knock of 151 off 131 balls did not come easy as the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat and pitch was two-paced.

Electing to bat first on a rather dry pitch, Pakistan lost their openers early and had suffered a middle-overs slump. But Babar and Iftikhar (109 not out off 71 balls) shared a sensational 214-run partnership off 131 balls for the fifth wicket, the highest-ever for Pakistan at this position in the ODIs, as they reached 342-6, and later bowl out Nepal for just 104.