PAK vs NED | Ashraf heroics and O'Dowd drop save Pakistan from horrific choke in thrilling World Cup opener

‌Asked to bat first on a green-looking Sinhalese Sports Club deck, the Netherlands got off to a statement making start with Michael Levitt walkind down the pitch first ball and dispatching Shaheen Afridi for four. When Max O'Dowd got the strike four deliveries later, he replicated his teammate to take nine off the first over. Levitt then greeted Salman Mirza the same way by slapping away his first ball for four, before smashing Afridi for another four and the first maximum of the innings as the Dutch raced away to 28/0 after three overs. Mirza got Pakistan their first breakthrough with a well-disguised slower ball to end O'Dowd's seven-ball stay, and the introduction of spin with Mohammad Nawaz made it a double whammy as Levitt departed for a 15-ball 24 to a brilliant relay catch with Babar Azam the protagonist. Nevertheless, Colin Ackermann and Bas de Leede ensured they capitalized on the powerplay all the same with three boundaries in the final over of field restrictions to be well placed at 50/2. Ackermann looked in fine touch as he slammed a four each off Shadab Khan and Abrar Ahmed, but the latter had the last laugh when the veteran chopped one on and walked off for 20. A sedate four-over period followed following which skipper Scott Edwards decided to break the shackles with the second maXimum of the innings, slog sweeping Nawaz. De Leede tried to get in the act with a boundary of his own but played a shot too many and holed out for 30 off 25 the very next ball, bringing Zach Lion-Cachet to the crease. The all-rounder began positively with an early boundary, and just when the Dutch seemed to have the platform for a final flourish with the score 123/4 after 15, tragedy fell. Abrar triggerred a collapse with the wicket of Edwards after a composed 29-ball 37, before Saim Ayub dispatched Logan van Beek and Lion-Cachet in the space of three deliveries. Aryan Dutt tried to rescue a competitive score with a couple of boundaries but just 24 runs and six wickets came off the last five overs, as Mirza bookended the innings with back-to-back strikes to bowl the Dutch out for 147 with a ball to spare.

In response, Ayub wasted no time in declaring his intents as he danced down against Dutt just the second ball he faced and deposited him into the long-on stands. The young firecracker then sibjected van Beek to a hattrick of boundaries in his first effort, and had only racked up 24 in just 13 balls by the time he eventually holed out off Dutt in the third over. In walked skipper Salman Agha Ali next and kept the momentum going with three boundaries in his eight-ball stay albeit Dutt once again had the last laugh. At the other end, Sahibzada Farhan got his own fireworks underway with a couple of maximums in the tail end of the powerplay to end the field restrictions at a thumping 61/2, whittling down the required rate to nearly run-a-ball. The spread of field, coupled with the entry of Babar Azam, helped somewhat calm things down for the Europeans albeit the occasional Farhan boundary meant they still took 37 off the next five overs. With just 50 required in nine overs, the Dutch seemed to be down and out until van Meekeren returned to the attack. He began by stranding Farhan three short of a half-century to end his 31-ball blitzkrieg, and then rattled Usman Khan for a two-ball duck in a double-wicket maiden. With pressure mounting, Babar broke too as he tried to take on Roelof van der Werme without success to walk back for an 18-ball 15 as Pakistan suddenly found themselves reeling at 102/5. Holland ramped up the pressure with two new batters at the crease and ultimately Klein got rid of Nawaz in the 16th over, a ball before van Beek strangled Shadab down leg in an over worth one run. Left needing 29 in two overs with just three wickets in hand, Faheem Ashraf finally sparked some hope with a six over midwicket but then sent one hurling down long-on's throat, only for O'Dowd to let it slip. It turned out to be a fatal mistake for the Dutch, as Ashraf struck two more maximums in gratitude before an edge off the last delivery flew away for four to leave Pakistan needing five in the final over. The 32-year-old finished it with another boundary with three balls to spare, ending on 25 off 11 to secure a three-wicket triumph.

Classic Pakistan

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