Pakistan race to 50 in five overs chasing 148 against Netherlands

Opener Saim Ayub set the early tempo with a brisk 24 off 13 balls, smashing four fours and a six before being dismissed by Aryan Dutt in the third over, leaving Pakistan at 27-1.

Captain Salman Ali Agha then joined Sahibzada Farhan as the pair maintained the scoring rate. Pakistan crossed the 50-run mark in the fifth over, which also saw Agha depart for 12 off eight balls. Farhan, later joined by Babar Azam, continued to score freely and remained unbeaten on 24 with a strike rate above 200.

At the halfway stage of the innings, Pakistan were 90-2 after 10 overs.

Earlier, Pakistan’s bowlers, led by the spinners, recovered well to restrict the Netherlands to 147 in 19.5 overs after the Dutch side was put in to bat.

The Netherlands started aggressively, with Michael Levitt striking a boundary off the first ball and helping his team reach 28 without loss in the first three overs.

Pakistan claimed their first wicket when Salman Mirza dismissed opener Max O Dowd, who became the tournament’s first wicket while attempting a pull shot.

Levitt was then removed by Mohammad Nawaz following an outstanding relay effort from Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi near the boundary. Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann steadied the innings and took the Netherlands past 50 during the powerplay.

Abrar Ahmed struck in the eighth over, dismissing Ackermann for 20 off 14 balls to make it 65-3. The Netherlands brought up 100 in the 13th over through a six by skipper Scott Edwards, but Nawaz soon dismissed de Leede for 30 off 25 balls.

Abrar claimed his second wicket by removing Edwards for 37 off 29 balls. Saim Ayub then delivered a key over, dismissing Logan van Beek for a first-ball duck and Zach Lion-Cachet for nine, reducing the Netherlands to 129-7.

Shaheen Afridi removed Roelof van der Merwe for four, while Salman Mirza wrapped up the innings by dismissing Aryan Dutt for 13 and Paul van Meekeren for a duck in the final over.

Salman Mirza led the bowling attack with figures of 3 for 24 in 3.5 overs. Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed and Saim Ayub picked up two wickets each, while Shaheen Afridi claimed one.