In the opening match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, Salman Mirza drew first blood for Pakistan as he removed the experience Max O’Dowd early in the piece. It was Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha who won the toss and elected to bowl first on a grassy pitch and overcast conditions and Max O’Dowd opened the batting with Michael Levitt. The Pakistanis were guilty of bowling wrong lines and that gave Netherlands a fast start in the first 3 overs.
Shaheen Afridi was guilty in giving loose balls which Levitt in particular took control and hit him to all parts of the ground. The first three overs were all Netherlands as Pakistan bowled wrong lines and lengths with Levitt being the aggressor and Dowd stayed at the other end. Afridi was the guilty one and was taken to the cleaners as well. But soon, Pakistan hit back with two timely dismissals.
Salman Mirza removes Max O’Dowd
Salman Mirza bowled a quiet over and then struck for Pakistan as the keeper Usman Khan played a key role in the dismissal. Salman bowled this delivery from over the wicket. It was a hard length that pitched outside the leg and zipped across the right-hander. Max stood tall and looked to pull the bowler over midwicket and the ball got big on him and he was in no position to execute the stroke. The big top edge that shoot up towards square leg. ‘
Usman Khan with the gloves on and called for it early. He sprinted across 33 metres and covered a lot of ground before diving forward to take a fabulous catch to give Pakistan the early wicket they so desperately were asking for. Bas de Leede came out to bat next and got off the mark and played out the remainder of the 4th over.At that time, Netherlands’ score was 28-1 in 3.1 overs and Max was out on 5 runs in 7 balls.
Mohammad Nawaz removed Michael Levitt thanks to extraordinary fielding
Mohammad Nawaz was introduced inside the powerplay to bowl the 5th over and he struck in his first over thanks to great fielding effort in the boundary line. Nawaz bowled a fuller length delivery on the stumps, Levitt got down on one knee and looked to slog it with a horizontal bat and lost his shape as he failed to get to the pitch of the ball. He miscued it off the toe end of the bat but had plenty of height and elevation on the ball.
Levitt miscued it off the toe end and as the ball was going away from the fielder. Babar Azam ran to his right from long-off to take the catch. But as he was about to jump over the boundary, he flicked it back towards Shaheen Afridi who ran back from mid-on and completed the catch. Pakistan had their second wicket as the Dutch were 31/2 in 4.2 overs. Levitt would rue as he couldn’t convert his start as he was dismissed on 24 runs in 15 balls and hit 3 fours and 1 six.
What Lies Ahead in the contest
Colin Ackermann came out to bat next to join Bas de Leede in the middle. de Leede managed to hit a boundary away and then Mirza bowled the last over of the powerplay as Ackermann hit him for two boundaries in three balls while Bas de Leede got into the act and hit a boundary as well as 14 runs came off the last over of powerplay. Netherlands were 50/2 in 6 overs at the end of the first phase of the innings.
Netherlands and Pakistan will look to consolidate and gain the upper hand in the all important middle phase of the game. At the moment, we can say that both teams and the match situation is evenly poised at this stage with Colin and Bas at the crease. Netherlands would fancy their chances if they set a target in excess of 170 as it’s a greenish surface which is also helping spinners.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Pakistan Aims To Get Off To A Winning Start In Tournament