The Netherlands’ Logan van Beek, center, reacts after being hit for a six by Pakistan’s Faheem Ashraf, left, during the World Cup T20 cricket match between the Netherlands and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP) With the shadow of a boycott looming over their match against India on February 15, Pakistan cannot afford a slip-up in their remaining three matches against the associated nations. They almost did it on Saturday and came close to ending their 2026 FIFA World Cup T20 campaign before it had properly started before Faheem Ashraf saved Salman Ali Agha’s side from a major setback.Chasing 148 against the Netherlands in the opening match of the tournament at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo, Pakistan, he was in good form with 98 for 2 in 11 overs needing 50 runs off 54 balls.
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The match turned quickly after Paul van Meekeren dismissed the well-placed Sahibzad Farhan, who was caught by Roelof van der Merwe for 47 off 31 balls. Van Meekeren then removed Usman Khan for a duck in the same over.Babar Azam followed soon after, caught by Michael Klein at long off van der Merwe in the 13th over. Pakistan slumped to 100 for 5 and then 114 for 6 and 114 for 7 after 16.1 overs as Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan were dismissed off consecutive deliveries.Pakistan still needed 34 from 23 balls, could only score 5 in the next 11 balls. From 12 when Logan van Beek came in, 29 more runs were needed. Pakistan was staring at defeat and Netherlands was feeling victory.Faheem Ashraf then changed the game. He hit 24 runs in the 19th over and hit three sixes. During the end, Max O’Dowd threw him into the deep. The over shifted the momentum completely in Pakistan’s favour.After that blast, Ashraf completed the chase with raised cover for the winning runs as Pakistan cruised home with three balls to spare. With just nine deliveries to go, the target looked out of reach.Ashraf remained unbeaten on 29 off 11 balls as Pakistan edged out the Netherlands by three wickets to avoid a major shock to open the tournament in Colombo.Van Meekeren and van der Merwe put the Netherlands in a strong position and cut through Pakistan’s middle and lower middle order. But one over, the 19th, proved decisive as van Beek missed his lengths and Ashraf cashed in. Questions surrounding Pakistan’s batting remain even though they have been shelved for the day.
