Pakistan kicked off their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign in typical fashion with a nail-biting win, edging the Netherlands by three wickets at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.
Set 148 to win, the Men in Green got over the line in the last over, finishing the chase at 147 for 7.
Pakistan came out aggressively through the openers, with Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan ensuring a fast start. Saim struck 24 off 13 balls, smashing four fours and a six, before spinner Aryan Dutt drew first blood.
Farhan kept the tempo going and, alongside captain Salman Ali Agha, pushed Pakistan forward quickly. The pair added a rapid 50 within the first five overs, but Dutt returned to remove Salman for 12 off 8, leaving Pakistan 53-2 in 4.5 overs.
Farhan continued to hold the innings together as Babar Azam took time to settle. Babar eventually found his rhythm and looked set for a half-century, but Roelof van der Merwe stopped him at 47 off 31 (4 fours, 2 sixes). In the same over, van der Merwe struck again, dismissing Usman Khan for a second-ball duck, denting Pakistan at 98-4 in 11.1 overs.
The chase then slowed as another batter managed only 15 off 18, allowing the Netherlands to tighten the screws. Pakistan’s problems deepened late on when Mohammad Nawaz (6) and Shadab Khan (8) were sent back by Kyle Klein and Logan van Beek, keeping the finish tense.
With the match in the balance, Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi held their nerve. Faheem flipped the momentum with back-to-back sixes and stayed unbeaten on a match-winning 29 off 11 balls, hammering two fours and three sixes to seal a memorable comeback for Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.
Earlier, the Netherlands started brightly after being put in to bat, as openers Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd found boundaries early, with Levitt particularly aggressive.
Pakistan made the first breakthrough in the fourth over when Salman Mirza dismissed O’Dowd for 5 off 7, with Usman Khan taking the catch behind the stumps.
In the next over, Mohammad Nawaz removed Levitt for 24 off 15 (3 fours, 1 six) in a key moment, with Babar Azam pulling off a sharp boundary effort and relaying the ball for Shaheen Afridi to complete the catch.
Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann rebuilt and ensured the Netherlands crossed 50 inside the powerplay, but Pakistan hit back again when Abrar Ahmed dismissed Ackermann for 20 off 14 (4 fours), leaving the Netherlands 65-3 in the eighth over.
The Dutch side reached 100 in the 13th over, with captain Scott Edwards launching a six off Nawaz. Nawaz, however, had the final say against de Leede, removing him for 30 off 25 to make it 105-4.
Abrar then picked up his second wicket by sending Edwards back for a fighting 37 off 29. Pakistan tightened the grip further as Saim Ayub struck twice in the very next over, dismissing Logan van Beek for a first-ball duck and Zach Lion-Cachet for 9, reducing the Netherlands to 129-7.
Shaheen removed van der Merwe for 4, while Mirza cleaned up in the final over by dismissing Aryan Dutt (13) and Paul van Meekeren (0).
Mirza led Pakistan’s bowling with 3 for 24 in 3.5 overs, while Nawaz, Abrar and Saim collected two wickets each. Shaheen also finished with one scalp as Pakistan kept the Netherlands to 147 all out.
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