Pakistan clinched a final over thriller, after having thrown away a game they had dominated for most parts, to avoid a huge scare at the hands of the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup opener in Colombo.
Defending an under-par 147 on what captain Scott Edwards had called a “very good batting wicket” at the toss, the Dutch fought back to reduce Pakistan to 115-7 from 98-2 but a 24-run penultimate over, which featured a costly dropped catch by Max O’Dowd at long-off and three sixes, cost them the game.
Faheem Ashraf produced a stellar rescue act with an unbeaten 11-ball 29 to seal a three-wicket win.
Having been asked to bat on a fresh pitch with plenty of grass, Dutch opener Michael Levitt rode on his good form and raced off the blocks with a 15-ball 24 but was caught on the boundary off a remarkable relay catch by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam in the fifth over.
But it didn’t stall the momentum as Bas de Leede (30), Colin Ackermann (20) and Edwards (37) kept finding the boundaries regularly. Despite dropping Edwards twice, Pakistan were exceptional in the field, a facet not often seen as their strength.
At 100-3 in the 13th over, the Dutch were well-placed to post 170-plus. But against Pakistani mystery spinners, Abrar Ahmed (2-23) and Saim Ayub (2-7), the batters struggled for rhythm and perished in search of quick runs, losing their last seven wickets for just 42 runs to be bowled out for 147.
The misery piled on as the Dutch bowlers struggled to keep a check on Pakistan’s scoring rate, even Aryan Dutt’s two wickets inside the powerplay came after a slew of boundaries. At 98-2 with only fifty needed off nine overs, the result seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
But Paul van Meekeren returned to strike twice in his second over, a double-wicket maiden, to send back opener Sahibzada Farhan, who had threatened to take the game away with his 47, and wicket-keeper batter Usman Khan for a two-ball duck.
Babar Azam holed out to long-off off left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe in the next over as Pakistan slid further to 100-5, cue more bunny hop celebrations from the Dutch.
The middle-overs produced a chokehold as the Dutch bowlers only conceded 21 runs across seven overs picking up five wickets.
A dropped catch
With 29 needed off 12 balls, the game appeared to be firmly in the Netherlands’ favour until Ashraf turned it on its head, defying a dropped catch, to nail three sixes and a boundary off Logan van Beek.
“Obviously catches win matches. I want to be very clear [that] Pakistan didn’t win the game today, we lost the game against ourselves,” Van Meekeren said after the game.
“We were the better team today, especially in the bowling department. We deserved to win that game and we should have potentially sent Pakistan home after today, so yeah, it’s a shame but it is what it is.
“We’re a very close team so obviously there are a few guys who are actually disappointed in the changing room, but we stand behind them, we back them all the way for the next game to turn it around.”
The Netherlands will now move to Delhi to take on Namibia on Tuesday, February 10 at 06:30 CEST. All matches are live telecast on NOS.
