Pakistan vs Nepal Predictions - Babar Azam backed to score big against minnows

Ralph Staniforth

Editor

Last updated: 29 Aug 2023

Ralph Staniforth 29 Aug 2023

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Watch Pakistan vs Nepal on Wednesday in the Asia Cup (12:00 SAST)
Nepal have lost 5 of their last 7 ODI games
Can Babar Azam continue his superb form?

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Babar Azam can continue his sublime ODI form (Getty images)

Pakistan vs Nepal Preview

This should be a very straightforward win for Pakistan to open the 2023 Asia Cup. Nepal don’t have many dangers, so I expect an easy win. The value in the match for me falls on the shoulders of Babar Azam who I’m backing to top score for Pakistan.

Pakistan vs Nepal Preview
Head to Head
Pakistan Form
Pakistan Injuries & Team News
Nepal Form
Nepal Injuries & Team News

Pakistan have won their last 3 ODI matches.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam has scored 50+ runs in his last 2 ODI innings.
Nepal have lost 5 of their last 7 ODI matches.

Head to Head

Pakistan and Nepal have never played an ODI against each other.

Pakistan Form

Pakistan will be very confident heading into this Asia Cup. They are in very strong form and are certainly among the top ODI sides in the world.

In the recent ODI series against Afghanistan, Pakistan won 3-0. While they had some problems with the bat, their bowling bailed them out to ensure reasonably comfortable victories.

Babar Azam is the star of the Pakistan side, particularly with bat in hand. The captain scored 53 and 60 runs in the last two ODIs against Afghanistan.

Pakistan Injuries & Team News

Pakistan very recently played against Afghanistan but are not likely to make too many changes. They will want to give key players as much time as possible so resting players is unlikely.

Nepal Form

Nepal are an emerging nation so they have done well in recent years. They are not however a strong side and recent results have shown they will struggle in the Asia Cup.

Nepal failed to qualify for the World Cup as they could only manage a seventh-place finish. They have also recently lost to India and Pakistan A sides in the Emerging Cup.

However, in their last match, Nepal did manage to defeat UAE A to give them some confidence heading into this tournament.