Player of the Match
Player of the Match

What. A. Game. That should not have gotten anywhere as nervy as it should have, but thank goodness it did. It was T20s fast-forwarding the ebb and flow process like only it can, and this is just the opener. Lots more action coming up, Scotland take on West Indies and that starts in minutes. Do check that out. Thanks for tuning in here. Goodbye.

Salman Agha, Pakistan captain We have to do it the hard way. Credit to Faheem. We tried well, knew they'd come hard. Held things really well. 147 we'd take on this pitch. Spinners have done well in the last six months. First ten overs we batted well, then the two wickets fell and pressure came in. We need to absorb better. Conditions - Not easy to start, once we get in it gets easier. Once a batter gets set, they need to finish the game, didn't do that today. Want to change that.

Scott Edwards, Netherlands captain We ween't at our best. Credit to the boys for fighting. Small moments can come on to hurt you. We kept losing wickets at important times. We felt 160 was going to give us a fair chance. We had to bowl well to give us a chance. A couple of good performances from the bowlers kept us in the game. It's a good wicket, Pakistan got it down to run a ball, then we got a maiden and the boys jumped on the momentum.

Faheem Ashraf, POTM We have been playing this brand of cricket for this past year. Heart rates go up and down, it's happened so many times before, we're used to it. Shaheen and I were talking about saving wickets, knew we could take down whatever in one over. When the ball is in the air, you just want the ball to land. Our efforts is to finish games as early as possible. But you have to hold your nerves in these situations.

Ansar : "With this close win Pakistan has to revisit their batting order. One of fast ballers has to make way for either Fakhar or Nafay. Ideally, Fakhar should be one down with Salman batting at 5 to steady the ship in case of a collapse."

CricDude: "The drop catch in the 19th over. That's the difference. Can say the last 5 overs, NED could have added. But PAK lost the plot too in the middle overs"

Shah: "@Josh: You also won't see such a recovery all tournament and it's only game 1"

2:27pm They've done it, not sure how but they have. Netherlands will be distraught, they left quite a few runs out with the bat and nearly had it with the ball. Pakistan were down and out after dominating the first half of the game. They slipped from 98 for 2 to 115 for 7. Van Meekeren, van der Merwe put Netherlands in with a massive chance. Pakistan's middle and lower middle order was being sliced through. But in the matter of one over, the 19th, Faheem Ashraf, took down van Beek who missed his lengths. Questions will remain over Pakistan's batting but they will subside for today.

19.3
4
de Leede to Faheem Ashraf, FOUR, Faheem finishes it! Applause in the dugout, dancing in the stands and hands in heads among Netherlands' players and supporters. Wide full toss on the higher side, Faheem dines on yet another bad ball by slapping it over cover. Too wide for the sweeper

Razor : "Poor old Van Beek. Can't catch a break at world cups "

19.2
0
de Leede to Faheem Ashraf, no run, Change of plan from Netherlands. They're going bouncers now. This is just over shoulder height, beats the pull
19.1
1
de Leede to Shaheen Shah Afridi, 1 run, Short at the body, pulled flat and into the ground, goes to deep square leg

END OF OVER:
19 | 24 Runs | PAK: 143/7 (5 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.52, RRR: 5.00)

  • Faheem Ashraf25 (9b)
  • Shaheen Shah Afridi4 (8b)
  • Logan van Beek4-0-46-1
  • Paul van Meekeren4-1-20-2

Dale: "Van Beek has had a mare of an over...wow"

18.6
4
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, FOUR, Now even luck goes Pakistan's game, 24 off the over. Is that the game? Length outside off, Faheem looked to flash it over cover, got a thick edge that flew between keeper and short third

Sundar: "What's wrong with yorkers! Every ball. NED are blowing it."

18.5
6
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, SIX, After the yorker, van Beek misses his spot again! Goes slot on leg, Faheem is right behind it and whips it over square leg for an 89-metre six
18.4
0
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, no run, Yorker outside off. Faheem looks to jam it behind point. Misses
18.3
6
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, SIX, Slot ball has been smoked over the sightscreen! He's changing the game again. Van Beek almost repeating the first ball, Faheem deep in the crease and driving through the line
18.2
2
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, 2 runs, Full toss has been bashed... and long-off drops it! O'Dowd ran to the right, was horizontal to the ball and then his knee hit the ground, that's when the ball popped out. Edwards is frustrated!
18.1
6
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, SIX, Six right off the bat! Fuller side of length but at this stage it's slot, just outside off. Faheem goes deep in the crease and swipes it away over midwicket

END OF OVER:
18 | 4 Runs | PAK: 119/7 (29 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.61, RRR: 14.50)

  • Shaheen Shah Afridi4 (8b)
  • Faheem Ashraf1 (3b)
  • Paul van Meekeren4-1-20-2
  • Logan van Beek3-0-22-1

Adnan: "Always a strong believer of going with specialists over bowling all-rounders on tricky pitches like those of SL, UAE etc. It may work fine for belters like those in Ind n Eng these days. But for such big tournaments, I was always susceptible and I fear it may cost Pak so early in the tournament. Pressure situations demand those who have had a go in such a situations at domestic level. Sorry to say but these all rounders have nothing such in their CV to advocate."

17.6
0
van Meekeren to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, Another bouncer, beaten again! Shaheen makes room and looks to pull. Ends a match-turning, if not a match-winning spell from van Meekeren
17.5
0
van Meekeren to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, Backs away and looks to pull it square. The bouncer goes past bat
17.4
2
van Meekeren to Shaheen Shah Afridi, 2 runs, Shaheen goes big... and gets away with it. Went over extra cover, mid-off can't reach it. Was a shortish ball outside off that was slapped away

Odinlass: "42% dot balls for Pakistan so far. Roughly 50. So that's 7.1 overs."

17.3
1
van Meekeren to Faheem Ashraf, 1 run, Length outside off, square driven to deep point
17.2
1
van Meekeren to Shaheen Shah Afridi, 1 run, Makes ample room and looks to work it off a length, misses. Ball goes off the pad towards point
17.1
0
van Meekeren to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, Walks down and looks to defend straight, misses. Length ball skids through just outside off

END OF OVER:
17 | 1 Run 1 Wkt | PAK: 115/7 (33 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.76, RRR: 11.00)

  • Faheem Ashraf0 (2b)
  • Shaheen Shah Afridi1 (3b)
  • Logan van Beek3-0-22-1
  • Kyle Klein3-0-23-1
16.6
0
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, no run, Length outside off, wipes it away to backward point
16.5
0
van Beek to Faheem Ashraf, no run, Length on off, looks to flick it and misses. Ball goes to the off side

Josh : "We won't see a worse collapse all tournament and it's only game 1"

16.4
1
van Beek to Shaheen Shah Afridi, 1 run, Pitched up on middle, punched back to the bowler
16.3
0
van Beek to Shaheen Shah Afridi, no run, Fullish on off, defended to the bowler

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st27Sahibzada FarhanSaim Ayub
2nd26Salman AghaSahibzada Farhan
3rd45Babar AzamSahibzada Farhan
4th0Babar AzamUsman Khan
5th2Babar AzamShadab Khan
6th14Mohammad Nawaz (3)Shadab Khan
7th0Faheem AshrafShadab Khan
8th34Faheem AshrafShaheen Shah Afridi

ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Super Eights, Group 1
TeamMWLPTNRR
SA33062.259
IND32140.106
WI31220.993
ZIM3030-3.415
Super Eights, Group 2
TeamMWLPTNRR
ENG33061.096
NZ31131.39
PAK3113-0.123
SL3030-1.95
Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND44082.5
PAK43160.976
USA42240.788
NED4132-1.217
NAM4040-3.108
Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
ZIM43071.506
SL43161.741
AUS42241.523
IRE41230.15
OMA4040-4.845
Group C
TeamMWLPTNRR
WI44081.874
ENG43160.201
SCOT41320.184
ITA4132-1.02
NEP4132-1.349
Group D
TeamMWLPTNRR
SA44081.943
NZ43161.227
AFG42240.889
UAE4132-1.364
CAN4040-2.426