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Pakistan narrowly avoided a major upset against a resilient Netherlands side in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign-opener at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo, on Saturday. Pakistan won their campaign-opener by three wickets after bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf got the team over the line from a tricky situation.
After being put into bat, the Netherlands adopted a fearless approach as they raced to 50/2 within the Powerplay. Michael Levitt (24 off 15) provided the early fireworks, including a massive six, before falling to Mohammd Nawaz (2/38 in 4 overs). At the halfway mark, the Dutch were cruising at 79/3, and later reached 123/4 in 15 overs. Skipper Scott Edwards (37) and Bas de Leede (30) appeared to be guiding the team toward a formidable 170+ total. However, the Pakistani spinners, led by Abrar Ahmed (2/23) and Saim Ayub (2/7), triggered a catastrophic collapse. The Netherlands lost their final six wickets for just 20 runs, finishing 147 all out in 19.5 overs. Salman Mirza was the pick of the bowlers, cleaning up the tail to finish with 3/24. Pakistan's pursuit of 148 began with Saim Ayub (24) hammering a hat-trick of boundaries in the second over, and Sahibzada Farhan looked in sublime touch, blasting 47 off 31 balls. At 98/2, the result seemed a formality for the 2009 T20 World Cup champions. However, in a dramatic passage of play, Pakistan lost three wickets for just two runs. Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan and Babar Azam in quick successions as Pakistan suddenly found themselves at 105/5 in 13 overs. Paul van Meekeren and Aryan Dutt then turned the screws as the score slipped to 114/7, with Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan also departing. With 29 runs needed off 12 balls, Faheem Ashraf scored 24 runs in the penultimate over, bowled by Logan van Beek, and then hit the winnin boundary off the third ball of the last over to give his team the first points of the tournament. Despite the scare, the 2009 champions will be relieved to start their campaign with a win, especially after having announced a boycott from their group-stage match against India. (ANI)
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