Pakistan avoided a shock – and potentially damaging – defeat to Netherlands in the opening match of the T20 World Cup with Faheem Ashraf’s boundary burst and a crucial dropped catch seeing the 2009 champions to a jittery three-wicket victory.
Pakistan have opted to boycott their fixture with India on February 15 amid the fallout from Bangladesh’s removal from the tournament, placing extra importance on their other three Group A games as they look to reach the Super 8s.
Salman Ali Agha’s men crumbled from 98-2 to 114-7 in a chase of 148 in Colombo and then needed 29 from the final 12 balls as Netherlands eyed another T20 World Cup upset, having beaten England and South Africa in previous editions of the competition.
However, Faheem (29no off 11) flogged Logan van Beek’s 19th over for 24, slamming three towering sixes, including two either side of being shelled by Max O’Dowd at long-off, and a sliced four to cut the ask to five runs from the last.
Faheem slammed 29 not out from 11 balls against the Dutch in Colombo
Faheem then fittingly slapped the winning boundary over cover three deliveries into Bas de Leede’s final over as Pakistan dodged defeat ahead of further Group A fixtures with USA on Tuesday and then Namibia on Wednesday February 18.
Pakistan lost to USA in a Super Over at the previous World Cup in 2024 so should not take the Associate nation lightly, particularly after this scare against the Dutch.
Salman’s team had earlier dismissed Netherlands for 147 in 19.5 overs, thanks chiefly to left-arm quick Salman Mirza’s 3-24 and six wickets shared by spinners Saim Ayub (2-7), Abrar Ahmed (2-23) and Mohammad Nawaz (2-38).
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Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam pulled off a stunning relay catch on the boundary in their side’s victory over Netherlands
A superb relay catch on the boundary as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam combined saw Nawaz remove Netherlands opener Michael Levitt for 24 off 15 balls in an innings in which captain Scott Edwards top scored with 37 off 29 balls.
A collapse of 6-20 from 127-4 cost Netherlands, whose next match is against Namibia in Delhi on Tuesday.
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