Colombo : Pakistan defeated Netherlands by 3 wickets at Colombo in opening encounter of ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026.
The match kickstarted in perfect fashion as the opening delivery of the tournament was dispatched to the rope for four, setting the tone for the Dutch, who powered to 28 runs for no loss in the opening three overs.
But Pakistan fought back in the latter stages of the Powerplay, removing both openers to help have proceedings at 50/2 at the six-over mark.
The dismissal of Michael Levitt (24 off 15 balls) was a world class catch on the boundary, where outfield specialist Babar Azam combined superbly with Shaheen Afridi to keep the ball inside the rope and securely off the turf.
The Pakistan outfit continued their fight in the field, rallying to have the Dutch at 79/3 at the midpoint of the innings.
Consistent quality efforts in the field allowed Pakistan to restrict the Netherlands to 147 all out with a ball to spare. Captain Scott Edwards top-scored for the Dutch, making 37 off 29 to ensure his side had something to defend.
In the chase, Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan gave a stellar start to Pakistan with their attacking strokeplay. While Saim fell to Aryan Dutt after a 13-ball stay during which he added 24 runs. Sahibzada’s smashing display improved Pakistan’s scoring rate further as they were well on track of their ask.
However, the Dutch struck back in the middle overs, picking three wickets across two overs. Paul van Meekeren struck twice in an over, sending back the dangerous Sahibzada Farhan just short of his fifty, before Roelof van der Merwe got rid off Babar Azam, who fell to a great catch from Kyle Klein.
Momentum soon swung in the Netherlands’ favour as a superb bowling spell saw Pakistan lose five wickets for just 16 runs. The equation tightened sharply, with 29 required off the final 12 deliveries.
Faheem Ashraf smashed three sixes in the penultimate over to swing the momentum back Pakistan’s way, leaving just five required from the final over. Ashraf sealed the game for Pakistan with a boundary, with three balls to spare, handing Netherlands a heartbreaking defeat.
