Pakistan began their T20 World Cup campaign with a thrilling three-wicket win over the Netherlands in opening match of the tournament in Colombo on Saturday.
The Team Green achieved the 148-run target in 19.3 overs for the loss of seven wickets, with a brilliant performance from tail order’s Faheem Ashraf.
Ashraf smashed three sixes and two fours to score crucial 29 runs off 11 balls, helping his side to win the thriller.
Pakistan began their chase of 148 in style with Saim Ayub brining in the runs early on before eventually falling in the third over for 24.
The powerplay overs saw Pakistan pile up the runs, getting themselves in a strong position with 65 runs off the first seven overs. Sahibzada Farhan made 47 runs.
The Green Shirts landed in trouble after they lost quick five wickets in four overs. However, Faheem Ashraf displayed fireworks with bat and secured first win for Pakistan.
Earlier, Netherlands set a target of 148 runs for Pakistan.
Despite a few solid contributions, the Netherlands struggled to build partnerships as Pakistan’s bowlers dominated throughout the innings. The Netherlands team was bowled out for 147 in 20th over.
Michael Levitt top-scored for the Netherlands with 24 runs off 15 balls, including 3 fours and 1 six, before being dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz.
Max O’Dowd, who was also in good form, could only manage 5 runs off 7 balls before falling to Salman Mirza. Bas de Leede added 30 runs off 25 balls, but his efforts were not enough to stabilize the innings, as he too was dismissed by Nawaz.
Colin Ackermann made a brief impact with 20 runs off 14 balls, but was soon sent packing by Abrar Ahmed. The Netherlands’ captain, Scott Edwards, fought hard for his 37 runs off 29 balls, but he was dismissed by Abrar Ahmed as well.
The lower order crumbled under pressure with wickets falling quickly. Zach Lion-Cachet (9 runs) and Logan van Beek (0 runs) were both dismissed by Pakistan’s Saim Ayub, who claimed two wickets in his only over.
Aryan Dutt’s 11 runs off 5 balls helped boost the score, but it was not enough to prevent the collapse.
For Pakistan, Salman Mirza took three wickets while Saim Ayub and Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz took two wickets each. Shaheen Afridi grab one wicket.
Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq
