Faheem Ashraf stood up and showed what he is made out of when he fired for Pakistan when the Men in Green were in big trouble at one stage. Faheem Ashraf fired with the bat as he was not needed with the ball earlier in the day. Pakistan put in a disciplined bowling display led by Salman Mirza’s 3-wicket haul and the spinners kept things tight from the other end as Netherlands collapsed to 147 in 19.5 overs.
In reply, Pakistan were off to a cruising start courtesy of Sahibzada Farhan’s 47 and Saim Ayub’s 24 quick runs at the top. But they stuttered in the middle overs and the death overs phase by losing wickets at regular intervals before Faheem Ashraf intervened at the end and was aided by a dropped catch from Max O’Dowd to ensure Pakistan win the game in the end getting 29 off the last 12 balls and getting it with 3 balls and 3 wickets to spare as Pakistan makes a winning start to the campaign.
Disciplined Bowling and Fielding Display led by Salman Mirza keeps Netherlands down to 147
Put into bat first, Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd opened the batting for Netherlands while Shaheen Afridi had ball in hand for Pakistan. Levitt was quickly off the blocks and took advantage of wayward bowling from Afridi. Max hardly got strike and was a mere spectator at the other end. The Dutch went to 28 in 3 overs before Salman Mirza struck for Pakistan as he removed Max for 5 off 7 balls with a boundary to his name as the keeper Usman Khan ran and dived forward to take a good catch.
Bas de Leede came out to bat next. Levitt the opening partner of O’Dowd did not last long as only 3 runs were added to the total before Levitt fell for 24 off 15 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Mohammad Nawaz who struck in his first over. Colin Ackermann came to the crease to join de Leede in the middle. The duo started to build some sort of partnership and played some fluent strokes as the powerplay score was 50/2 in 6 overs for the Dutch.
Bas de Leede and Ackermann put on 34 runs for the third wicket before Ackermann fell for 20 off 14 balls with 4 fours to his man as he fell to Abrar Ahmed. Captain and keeper batter Scott Edwards came out to bat next. Edwards and de Leede took the attack to the Pakistanis and went at a fair clip as well. The Dutch were 79/3 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the innings.
The duo carried on and hit fours and sixes for fun. Scott looked good and so did Bas de Leede. The duo took the Dutch to 100 in 12.1 overs and had put on 40 runs for the 4th wicket before Bas de Leede was dismissed was 30 off 25 balls with 4 fours to his name as Nawaz got another wicket. Zach Lion Cachet came out to bat next.
Edwards looked in control as the Netherlands got to 123/4 in 15 overs and well-placed at this stage. But things went south from here on in the death overs phase. The duo of Edwards and Cachet put on 22 runs for the fifth wicket before the captain Scott Edwards fell for a well made 37 off 29 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name. Logan van Beek came out to bat next. Logan did not last long as just a run was added to the score before he fell for a golden duck to Saim Ayub.
Aryan Dutt came to the crease next. Another one bit the dust for the addition of one run before Cachet fell for 9 off 8 balls with one boundary to his name to Ayub again. The Dutch were now 129/7 in the 17th over. Roelof van der Merwe came to join Aryan Dutt in the middle.
Aryan and Roelof tried to comjure up some partnership and managed to add 10 runs to the tally before van der Merwe fell for 4 off 9 balls to Shaheen Afridi. Kyle Klein came to the middle next. The Dutch were 139/8 in 18.4 overs. Dutt tried to score runs and take the Dutch closer or beyond 150. The duo of Aryan and and Klein added 8 runs to the scoreboard before Aryan fell for 13 off 8 balls with 2 fours to his name to Salman Mirza.
Paul van Meekeren came out to bat next Paul fell first ball for a golden duck as he edged it to Usman Khan who made no mistake. Klein remained unbeaten on 2 off 2 balls as the Netherlands were bowled out for 147 in 19.5 overs. 3 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a disciplined bowling display by Pakistan led by Salman Mirza who picked up 3/24 in 3.5 overs. He was ably supported by Abrar Ahmed who bowled decently for his 2/23 in 4 overs. Mohammad Nawaz finished with 2/38 in 4 overs. Saim Ayub bowled an over and picked up 2/7 in 1 over. Shaheen Afridi finished with 1/28 in 3 overs. Shadab Khan bowled a miserly spell of 0/26 in 4 overs. This meant that Pakistan needed 148 runs to win the contest and start the campaign with a win.
Sahibzada Farhan and Faheem Ashraf’s finishing skills takes Pakistan over the line in a tense chase
Chasing 148 for the win, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub came out to bat for Pakistan while Aryan Dutt had ball in hand for Netherlands. The Pakistan openers gave the team a perfect start as they maintained a right tempo. Ayub was more of the aggressor while Farhan was a spectator at the other end. It was a perfect start and Ayub looked good as they put on 27 for the first wicket inside 3 overs as Ayub fell for 24 off 13 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name to Aryan Dutt.
Salman Ali Agha came out to bat next. Salman and Farhan kept the tempo going with Farhan taking the aggressor’s role now while Salman hit a few shots to the fence. The duo continued to maximise the powerplay before Salman fell for 12 off 8 balls with 3 fours to his name to Aryan Dutt. Babar Azam came out to bat next. Farhan was now in his zone while Babar was struggling out there. The powerplay score was 61/2 in 6 overs for Pakistan as they were in cruise control at this stage.
Babar was struggling but Farhan was taking the game head on and kept the required rate to around run a ball as things looked like a cruise for the Men in Green. The duo of Babar and Farhan put on 45 runs for the 3rd wicket before Farhan fell for 47 off 31 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Paul van Meekeren. Usman Khan came out to bat next. He lasted two balls as van Meekeren had two in an over as Usman fell for a silver duck chopping the ball back into the stumps.
Shadab Khan came out to bat next as a wicket maiden over was delivered by Meekeren. Just 2 runs were added to the score when Babar Azam fell at the score of 100 as he fell for 15 off 18 balls with one boundary to his name to Roelof van der Merwe. Mohammad Nawaz came in with the score at 100/5 in 12.4 overs. Shadab and Nawaz tried to conjure in a partnership as they added 14 runs to the score before Nawaz fell for 6 off 13 balls to Ryan Klein. Faheem Ashraf came out to bat next.
Shadab fell in the next over as he fell for 8 off 12 balls to Logan van Beek. Pakistan were 114/7 in 16.1 overs when Shaheen Afridi came out to bat next to join Faheem Ashraf in the middle. Things got tight as the Dutch bowled tight overs and the equation came to 29 runs off 12 balls. Faheem Ashraf then stood up and played a clutch knock as he tore apart Bas de Leede apart.
He struck him for maximums and good fortune supported him as well as he was dropped by Max O’Dowd when the game was on the line. Faheem took advantage of it and took his side towards the win as 24 runs were scored off the 19th over. With 5 needed off the last over, Faheem hit a boundary off the third ball to seal the win by 3 wickets and 3 balls to spare. 2 extras given by the fielding side.
Paul van Meekeren was the pick of the bowlers for Netherlands with figures of 2/20 in 4 overs. Aryan Dutt finished with 2/33 in 4 overs. Logan van Beek went for 46 runs in 4 overs and picked up a wicket. Kyle Klein finished with 1/23 in 3 overs. Roelof van der Merwe finished with 1/13 in 3 overs. Bas de Leede finished with 0/13 in 1.3 overs. So, Pakistan win by 3 wickets with 3 balls to spare in a tense finish. Faheem Ashraf was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
More action to come in ICC T20 World Cup 2026 as West Indies faces Scotland next in Kolkata from 3 PM IST while India takes on USA in the evening at 7 PM IST in Mumbai. Pakistan next will face USA on 10th February while Netherlands faces Namibia next. So, a lot to look forward to in this tournament.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Aryan Dutt Removes Dangerous Saim Ayub Inside Powerplay