Pakistan has defeated Netherlands by 3 wickets in a close match. Faheem Ashraf somehow avoided Pakistan’s defeat, otherwise the Pakistan team was going to start the T20 World Cup 2026 with a big upset. In this match played in Colombo, the Netherlands team, batting first, was all out for 147 runs. In reply, Pakistan team registered a thrilling victory with 3 wickets remaining in the last over.

No batsman could play a big innings for the Netherlands, but apart from captain Scott Edwards, Bas de Leede contributed 37 runs and 30 runs respectively. Thanks to Michael Levitt’s 24 runs and Colin Ackerman’s 20 runs, the Netherlands team was able to reach 147 runs.

Pakistan had got the target of 148

While chasing the target of 148 runs, opener Sahibzada Farhan played an inning of 47 runs for Pakistan. Whereas Sam Ayub gave a good start to the Pakistan team by playing a brilliant inning of 13 runs. Captain Salman Aga and Babar Azam were complete flops, getting out after scoring 12 runs and 15 runs respectively.

Pakistan kept on losing

At one time the Pakistan team had scored 98 runs at the loss of 2 wickets and had to score only 50 runs in 58 balls. But from here the fall of wickets started and especially Paul van Meekeren ruined the Pakistani batting. By the time 100 runs were reached, half of Pakistan’s team had returned to the pavilion.

Both the experienced all-rounders in the form of Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan had also lost their wickets till the score of 114. At 114, 7 batsmen of Pakistan were out, thanks to Faheem Ashraf’s inning of 29 runs in 11 balls, due to which Pakistan was saved from becoming a victim of a big upset.

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The first match of T20 World Cup 2026 is today between Pakistan and Netherlands. The match will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Colombo, where there is a possibility of rain today. In this respect also the role of toss is important. The toss will take place at 10:30 am.

Pakistan and Netherlands are included in Group A of T20 World Cup 2026. The two have clashed twice before in T20, Pakistan has won both times. Salman Ali Aga would like to make it 3-0 from today, while the Netherlands team will enter the field with the intention of causing a big upset. The toss is important today due to the weather, the winning captain can decide to bowl first.

shadow of rain on the match

There is a possibility of rain in Colombo today. The toss will take place at 10:30 am and the match will start at 11 am. At this time the probability of rain is 20 percent. The highest chances of rain are between 1 pm and 3 pm. According to the weather report, the probability of rain in these 2 hours is up to 70 percent. That means rain during the second innings can disrupt the match.

pakistan squad

Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Salman Agha (captain), Khawaja Nafe (wicketkeeper), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq.

Netherlands squad

Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Zach Lyon Cachet, Colin Ackerman, Scott Edwards (wk/c), Noah Cross, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Paul van Meekeren, Tim van der Gugten, Saqib Zulfikar, Fred Klaasen.

T20 record at Sinhalese Sports Club

Only two T20 International matches have been played before at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground, that too about 15 years ago. Afghanistan vs Canada and Canada vs Ireland matches were held here in the year 2010. That means, this is the first match for both Pakistan and Netherlands on this ground.

2026 The T20 World Cup will start tomorrow i.e. Saturday, 7th February. Fans are eagerly waiting for the start of this global tournament. You will be surprised to know that there are three matches on the very first day of the T20 World Cup. The interesting thing is that both India and Pakistan will be seen in action on the first day. Here you will get all the important details of the three matches of the first day.

First match between Pakistan and Netherlands

The first match of the 2026 T20 World Cup will be played between Pakistan and Netherlands. This match will be played in Colombo, Sri Lanka. According to Indian time, this match will start at 11 am. You will be able to watch this match live on TV on the channels of Star Sports Network. Whereas on mobile the match will come live on Jiostar.

Netherlands team- Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Zach Lyon Cachet, Colin Ackerman, Scott Edwards (w/c), Noah Cross, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Paul van Meekeren, Tim van der Gugten, Saqib Zulfikar, Fred Klaasen.

Pakistan team- Fakhar Zaman, Sam Ayub, Babar Azam, Salman Aga (captain), Khawaja Nafe (wicketkeeper), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Mirza and Usman Tariq.

Second match between West Indies and Scotland

Scotland, who came into the tournament in place of Bangladesh, will face West Indies on Saturday. This match will be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The match will start at 3 pm. You will be able to watch this match live on TV on the channels of Star Sports Network. Whereas on mobile the match will come live on Jiostar.

Scotland team- Michael Jones, Mark Watt, Brandon McMullan, Richie Berrington (captain), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross (wicketkeeper), Oliver Davidson, Brad Currie, Zainullah Ihsan, Brad Wheel, Safyaan Sharif, Michael Leask, George Munsey, Finlay McCreath and Chris Greaves.

West Indies team- Brandon King, Shai Hope (wicketkeeper/captain), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Matthew Ford, Shamar Joseph, Shimron Hetmyer, Gudakesh Moti, Romario Shepherd and Jayden Seales.

Third match between India and USA

The third match of the first day of the T20 World Cup will be played between India and USA. This match will be held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This match will start at 7 pm. You will be able to watch this match live on TV on the channels of Star Sports Network. Whereas on mobile the match will come live on Jiostar.

Indian team- Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakraborty, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar.

USA i.e. America’s team: Monank Patel (captain), Andries Goss (wicketkeeper), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Shayan Jahangir, Milind Kumar, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Ali Khan, Nostush Kenjige, Saurabh Netrawalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Shehan Jayasuriya, Jasdeep Singh, Sanjay Krishnamurthy.