Clinical Green Shirts beat Nepal in the opening match of the Asia Cup on Wednesday, with a memorable performance from the skipper Babar Azam.

Despite losing two early wickets in powerplay, Babar Azam set the tone for a high-scoring innings in Multan. All-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed’s explosive knock provided the finishing touches to Pakistan’s total of 342 in 50 overs.

Azam scored 151 off 131 balls, making the second-highest score of the regional event. India’s Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer on the board with a knock of 183 runs that he made against Pakistan in the 2012 edition.

It was an all-round performance as Pakistan’s bowling attack bowled the opponents for 104 in 23.4 overs.

This year’s Asia Cup is a hybrid model of the regional event because of India refusal to play in Pakistan. The top-ranked team is the co-hosts with Sri Lanka.

Pakistan, who rose to world number one after sweeping Afghanistan 3-0 last week, will stage four matches with the remaining nine, including the final in Sri Lanka.

“India-Pakistan will always bring high intensity. We want to give 100% in every match, hope to do that there as well,” Babar said after the match on Wednesday.

Babar is the top-ranked ODI batter and Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle was of the view that the Pakistani skipper’s ton was inevitable right from the first ball he faced.

“It’s not just Pakistan, there are other teams,” Rohit had said of the hype surrounding the Pakistan clashes, with the rivals also scheduled to meet in the 50-over World Cup in Ahmedabad on October 14.

India will be without their wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul in the opening two games of the Asia Cup because of an injury.

Pakistan added middle-order batter Saud Shakeel to Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad with Tayyab Tahir named as the travelling reserve after a series against Afghanistan.