Colombo: Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan plays a shot during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A match between Pakistan and Netherlands at Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, Saturday, February 7, 2026. (IANS/Biplab Banerjee)
Colombo, February 7 (IANS) Pakistan limped to a three-wicket win over the Netherlands in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup opener on Saturday here at the Singhalese Cricket Club.
Consistent quality efforts in the field allowed Pakistan to restrict the Netherlands to 147 all out with a ball to spare. Captain Scott Edwards top-scored for the Dutch, making 37 off 29 to ensure his side had something to defend.
In the chase, Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan gave a stellar start to Pakistan with their attacking strokeplay. However, the Dutch struck back in the middle overs, picking three wickets across two overs.
Momentum soon swung in the Netherlands' favour as a superb bowling spell saw Pakistan lose five wickets for just 16 runs. The equation tightened sharply, with 29 required off the final 12 deliveries.
Faheem Ashraf smashed three sixes in the penultimate over to swing the momentum back Pakistan’s way, leaving just five required from the final over. He then sealed the game for Pakistan with a boundary, with three balls to spare, handing the Netherlands a heartbreaking defeat.
Have a look at the all the numbers game of Pakistan vs the Netherlands match-
147 is the highest score of the Netherlands vs Pakistan. Their previous best was 93 at Lord's in the 2009 World Cup.
30 is the individual score of Bas de Leede, which is also the highest individual score of any Netherlands batsman v Pakistan. The previous record stood in the name of CN Ackermann, who scored 27 at Perth in the 202 World Cup.
3/24 Number of times when Salman Mirza took 3 or more wickets in an innings.
47 Sahibzada Farhan became the 2nd Pakistani batter to score 47 or more runs against the Netherlands. Mohammad Rizwan still holds the record. He scored 49 at Perth in the 2022 World Cup.
Highest individual score for Pakistan v Netherlands (40 or more)
41 Kamran Akmal at Lord's 2009
49 Mohmmad Rizwan at Perth 2022
47 Sahibzada Farhan at Colombo 2026
Best bowling figures for Pakistan v Netherlands in the World Cup
4-11 Shahid Afridi at Lord's in 2009
3-20 Saeed Ajmal at Lord's in 2009
3-22 Shadab Khan at Perth in 2022
3-24 Salman Mirza at Colombo in 2026
Pakistan will next play the USA, while the Netherlands will take on Namibia on February 10.
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