Pakistan narrowly beats Dutch cricketers in World Cup opening match
Published at 07 February, 2026The Dutch men's team has failed to win their World Cup opening match against Pakistan. A reasonable score of 147 runs proved insufficient to secure victory. Pakistan surpassed this total with just a few balls remaining.
The Dutch jerseys were adorned with the sponsor logo of financial services provider Globe Group of Companies just in time before Pakistan sent in the Dutch team. Michael Levitt had an aggressive start and went after Shaheen Shah Afridi successfully, including a perfectly timed six that flew out of the stadium and hit a passing lorry.
The brisk opening was ended when Max O'Dowd saw a towering top edge disappear into the hands of the keeper (28/1). Levitt (24) was caught on the boundary when Babar Azam threw the ball back into the field to Shaheen Shah Afridi (3.5).
After the Powerplay, the score was 50/2 thanks to Colin Ackermann and Bas de Leede, who regularly found the boundary. It was 65/3 when Abrar Ahmed got Ackermann (20) who played on.
At 105/4/12.4 (De Leede 30), the Dutch team were still in a good position to post a 160+ score. It wasn't to be; the Netherlands lost their last six wickets for just 42 runs. Scott Edwards (37) and Aryan Dutt (13 from eight balls) contributed to the Dutch final score of 147 all out whilst Mirza took 3-24.
Pakistan innings
Pakistan intended to put the Dutch team under immediate pressure in the Powerplay. Saim Ayub, in particular, wasted no time with 24 (13), but Aryan Dutt had the last laugh (27/1).
The Dutch team needed to take wickets to have any chance of winning. The score was 53/2 when Dutt had Salman caught. Pakistan switched back to the cruise control mode needing only one run per ball.
However, Paul van Meekeren brought the Dutch team back into the game with two wickets. Farhan (47) was superbly caught by Roelof van der Merwe, and Usman Khan was played on off the second delivery he faced (98/4).
When the crafty Van der Merwe then had Babar Azam caught at long-off by Kyle Klein (100/5), the Netherlands could have hoped for a sensation. The score even reached 114/6 and 114/7 when Klein found success with a quick bouncer and Shadab Khan was caught down leg by Edwards.
This strong period from the Netherlands meant that Pakistan suddenly needed not one, but two runs per ball. The Netherlands were on top. However, in the nineteenth over – which went for 24 runs – Faheem was dropped at long-on. The Pakistani batter responded with three sixes and a four, securing Pakistan the win in the final over.
On February 10, the Netherlands will play Namibia in India at 6.30 AM Dutch time.
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