Pakistan survive Dutch scare to open T20 World Cup with narrow win

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 got off to a flying start as the very first ball of the tournament was sent racing to the boundary, setting the tone for the Netherlands. Put in to bat at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Saturday, the Dutch side raced to 28 without loss in the first three overs before Pakistan clawed their way back into the Group A opening contest during the latter half of the Powerplay.

Both openers were dismissed as Pakistan tightened the screws, reducing the Netherlands to 50 for 2 at the end of six overs. The highlight of the phase was a spectacular boundary catch to dismiss Michael Levitt, who made a brisk 24 off 15 balls. Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi combined brilliantly, with Babar showing superb athleticism to keep the ball in play before completing the dismissal.

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Pakistan’s intensity in the field remained high, and regular breakthroughs saw the Dutch slip to 79 for 3 at the halfway stage of the innings. Sustained pressure and sharp fielding eventually restricted the Netherlands to 147 all out with one ball remaining. Skipper Scott Edwards top-scored with a composed 37 off 29 deliveries, giving his side a total to defend.

Pakistan began the chase positively, with Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan putting the Netherlands bowlers under pressure through fluent strokeplay. Saim struck 24 off 13 balls before falling to Aryan Dutt, but Farhan continued to accelerate, keeping Pakistan comfortably ahead of the required rate.

The Netherlands, however, fought back impressively in the middle overs. Paul van Meekeren turned the game on its head with a double strike, removing the dangerous Farhan just short of his half-century. Roelof van der Merwe then claimed the prized wicket of Babar, who was brilliantly caught by Kyle Klein, swinging momentum firmly in the Dutch favour.

A disciplined bowling spell followed as Pakistan lost five wickets for just 16 runs, suddenly turning a straightforward chase into a tense finish. With 29 needed from the final two overs, the contest hung in the balance.

Faheem Ashraf then produced a decisive counter-attack, smashing three sixes in the penultimate over to wrest back control. Needing just five runs from the final over, Ashraf finished the job with a boundary, sealing a dramatic victory for Pakistan with three balls to spare and condemning the Netherlands to a heartbreaking defeat.

Brief Scores: Netherlands 147 in 19.5 overs (Scott Edwards 37, Bas de Leede 30, Salman Mirza 3-24, Abrar Ahmed 2-23) lost to Pakistan 148/7 (Shahibzada Farhan 47, Faheem Ashraf 29; Paul van Meekeren 2-20, Aryan Dutt 2-33) by three wickets.