Pakistan Netherlands T20 thriller marked an intense start to Pakistan\u2019s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, as the team secured a dramatic three-wicket victory over the Netherlands. The match took place at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, where Pakistan chased a target of 148 and crossed the line in the final over.<\/p>\n
Pakistan finished at 147 for seven after a tense chase. Although the team began confidently, the game quickly turned into a close contest.<\/p>\n
Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan provided early momentum. Ayub scored a brisk 24 from 13 balls before spinner Aryan Dutt broke the partnership. Soon after, Farhan and captain Salman Ali Agha added a rapid 50 runs within five overs, pushing Pakistan ahead.<\/p>\n
However, the Netherlands responded strongly. Dutt dismissed Salman for 12, slowing Pakistan\u2019s progress. Meanwhile, Farhan steadied the innings while Babar Azam settled in. Babar later accelerated and appeared set for a half-century. Yet Roelof van der Merwe removed him for 47, shifting pressure back onto Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Van der Merwe struck again in the same over by dismissing Usman Khan for a duck. As a result, Pakistan slipped to 98 for four. The scoring rate then dropped, and quick wickets further tightened the match.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan fell cheaply, leaving Pakistan in trouble. Nevertheless, Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi kept their composure during the closing overs. Faheem changed the game with two consecutive sixes and remained unbeaten on 29 off just 11 balls. His powerful hitting guided Pakistan to a memorable win and sealed the Pakistan Netherlands T20 thriller.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the Netherlands made a positive start after being asked to bat. Openers Michael Levitt and Max O\u2019Dowd found early boundaries, but Pakistan struck back quickly. Salman Mirza dismissed O\u2019Dowd, while Mohammad Nawaz removed Levitt soon after.<\/p>\n
Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann rebuilt the innings and helped their side pass fifty inside the powerplay. However, spinner Abrar Ahmed broke the stand by dismissing Ackermann for 20.<\/p>\n
The Dutch team crossed 100 in the 13th over, thanks in part to captain Scott Edwards, who scored a fighting 37. Still, Pakistan\u2019s bowlers regained control in the later stages.<\/p>\n
Abrar claimed another wicket, while Saim Ayub delivered a key double strike to reduce the Netherlands to 129 for seven. Shaheen Afridi and Mirza wrapped up the innings, restricting the Netherlands to 147 all out.<\/p>\n
Mirza led Pakistan\u2019s bowling with three wickets for 24 runs. Additionally, Nawaz, Abrar, and Saim took two wickets each, highlighting a balanced bowling effort.<\/p>\n
This Pakistan Netherlands T20 thriller gives Pakistan valuable momentum at the start of the tournament. At the same time, the narrow result shows areas the team may need to improve as the competition progresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan Netherlands T20 thriller marked an intense start to Pakistan\u2019s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, as the team secured a dramatic three-wicket victory over the Netherlands. The match took place at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, where Pakistan chased a target of 148 and crossed the line in the final over. Pakistan finished at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":100090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[694,1583,1163,34698,34961,34962,34964,34885,34963,32204],"class_list":["post-100088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-babar-azam","tag-pakistan-cricket-team","tag-shaheen-afridi","tag-cricket-news","tag-faheem-ashraf-innings","tag-icc-t20-match","tag-netherlands-cricket","tag-pakistan-vs-netherlands","tag-pakistan-win","tag-t20-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100091,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100088\/revisions\/100091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}