In the first match of the 2026 T20 World Cup, Pakistan defeated the Netherlands by three wickets, but with only three balls to spare.
Published on February 7, 2026
The Netherlands almost pulled off a major upset before a powerful cameo from Faheem Ashraf helped Pakistan to a three-wicket victory in their World Twenty20 Group A match.
Batting at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo on Saturday, the Dutch team were all out for 147 runs with one ball to spare.
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They then attempted a lion with the ball, but Faheem’s dismissal proved costly as the batsman made an unbeaten 29 off 11 balls to seal Pakistan’s victory with three balls to spare.
Pakistan’s bid to qualify for the Super 8 stage of the tournament has been left with a few pitfalls after the decision to boycott the February 15 group match against arch-rivals India.
The importance of winning their group matches against the minnows did not seem lost on Pakistan as they dismissed the Netherlands with a ball to spare.
They met their small target with the bat and the result could have been different if Max O’Dowd had caught Faheem. Earlier, the Dutch reached 100 in the 13th over, but lost the innings in the death overs, losing six wickets in 20 off 24 balls.
Netherlands lost openers Max O’Dowd and Michael Levitt in consecutive overs but their middle order refused to throw in the towel.
Bas de Leede (30), Colin Ackerman (20) and captain Scott Edwards (37) made useful contributions before the end of their innings.
Spinner Saim Ayub took two wickets in the 17th over and Mirza struck twice in the 20th over to keep the Netherlands below the total. Ayub (24) bounced back with four fours and a six as Pakistan started to chase but Dutch spinner Aryan Dutta dismissed him and Salman Agha in successive overs to keep his team in the game.
Babar Azam’s strike rate in this format has often been debated and his exit after scoring 15 off 18 balls did not convince his critics.
With Pakistan 119-7 after 18 overs, Faheem hit Logan van Beek for a six and O’Dowd skied the next ball over long-off, allowing the batting to move on and seal victory for Pakistan with a four.