- Scorecard is available here
Colombo, 7 February 2026: Faheem Ashraf’s cameo of 11-ball 29 ensured Pakistan survived a late scare to achieve the 148-run target with three balls to spare against Netherlands in the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Saturday afternoon.
With 29 required from the final two overs, Faheem clobbered three sixes and one four off the penultimate over which fetched 24 runs, before hitting one over covers in the final over to seal the win with three wickets in hand
Earlier, Pakistan opening batters provided their side with a brisk start as Saim Ayub departed after a quick-fire 24 off 13 balls aided by four fours and a six. Top-scorer Sahibzada Farhan fell three runs short of his ninth T20I fifty, scoring 47 off 31, hitting four fours and two sixes.
Pakistan were 61-2 after the powerplay and cruising at 98-2 after 11 overs. However, the Green Shirts lost five wickets for the next 16 runs, slipping to 114-7 after 16.1 overs.
For Netherlands, Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren bagged two wickets each.
After being put in to bat, Netherlands were dismissed for 147 in 19.5 overs, with captain Scott Edwards top-scoring with a 29-ball 37 that included four boundaries.
The Dutch got off to a decent start as they scored 31 in 4.1 overs, led by opener Michael Levitt’s quick-fire 24 off 15 balls (three fours,one six), while Bas de Leede contributed 30 off 25 with four fours.
Mohammad Salman Mirza (3.5-0-24-3) provided Pakistan with the breakthrough, after which the spinners kept the scoring in check through the middle overs. With Netherlands on 127-4 in 15.5 overs, Abrar Ahmed (4-0-23-2) sparked a late collapse by removing Edwards.
From there, Netherlands slumped to 147 all out, losing their last six wickets for 20 runs with Saim taking two wickets in his only over, while Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed one and Salman Mirza added two more to wrap up the innings.
Scores in brief:
Pakistan beat Netherlands by three wickets at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
Netherlands 147 all out, 19.5 overs (Scott Edwards 37, Bas de Leede 30, Michael Levitt 24, Colin Ackermann 20; Mohammad Salman Mirza 3-24, Saim Ayub 2-7, Abrar Ahmed 2-23, Mohammad Nawaz 2-38)
Pakistan 148-7, 19.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 47, Faheem Ashraf 29 not out, Saim Ayub 24; Paul van Meekeren 2-20, Aryan Dutt 2-33)
Player of the match – Faheem Ashraf (Pakistan)
