The 1st was s a tense three-wicket win where Pakistan chased 148 only in the final two overs, turning what should have been a routine pursuit into a scramble. The PAK vs NED T20 World Cup result hinged on Faheem Ashraf’s match-winning innings of 29* off 11 balls, rescuing a collapsing chase. After early dominance, Pakistan stumbled through the middle overs before a late surge sealed the Pakistan chase 148 highlights and confirmed a narrow win vs Netherlands that exposed both finishing strength and familiar fragility.
Fast Start, Control Early
The beginning of Pakistan’s pursuit, however, had an intent to it. The initial two overs by Pakistan saw 27 runs from the bat of Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub as they immediately pushed the Netherlands into defensive mode. Even when Aryan Dutt dismissed both Saim Ayub and captain Salman Ali Agha during the Power Play, the pace did not drop off.
After six overs at 61 for 2, the run requirement was under control, and the batting side was well set for what was shaping up to be a very comfortable ride. The conditions were clearly batting-friendly with a hard ball that would skid on, and reward clean hitting in the power play. It was here that the match tipped in favor of Pakistan.
Middle Overs Squeeze Changes Pakistan vs Netherlands Game
It was a turning point for the Netherlands when they were able to contain both the pace of the bowlers and the tightness of their seam lines. Paul Van Meekeren’s double-wicket maiden removed Farhan and Usman Khan and immediately stopped any further momentum for Pakistan. A couple of overs later, Babar Azam holed out, and Pakistan were now struggling to get back on track with the run chase.
Paul Van Meekeren and Dutt continued to bowl very tightly to inflate the required run rate significantly. The Netherlands utilized the various types of fast bowling at their disposal, as well as back-of-length cutters, to force the batsmen into making mistakes by getting them to play outside the line of the ball, rather than hitting boundaries. Pakistan went from being in control of the game to going into pressure mode and lost both Nawaz and Shadab in a short period of time.
Faheem Ashraf’s Match-Winning Burst
Faheem Ashraf has this (Pakistan chase 148 highlights) all to himself. At 29 runs for the last two overs, which is their highest demand in that phase of a T20I chase, it seemed to be quite a high mountain to climb.
It was now Pakistan who had to try to turn the tables after Max O’Dowd’s dropped catch by Faheem Ashraf put pressure on the team. The all-rounder immediately capitalized and scored two sixes and one four in his first over; he finished the over with an unbeaten total of 29 from 11 deliveries and once again flipped the script against the Netherlands and made the Dutch fight for the last three deliveries of the match.
Netherlands Left Runs Behind
Earlier, the Netherlands were dismissed for 147 in 19.5 overs, competitive enough but slightly below-par for the early start they received. The middle-overs of the Dutch innings lacked real acceleration after being anchored by Scott Edwards (37). Pakistan’s spinners, particularly Abrar Ahmed, stifled the opportunities to score runs, and Salman Mirza (3/24) caused an inevitable late collapse to take the Netherlands from 127 for 4 to all out 147, and that loss of runs ultimately cost them 10–15 runs. On a pitch that had made it feasible to score runs during the powerplay, losing that many runs in those runs scored during the powerplay was pivotal.
The Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup Report shows that Pakistan will have to be more than just lucky to succeed; they are going to have to bat better as well. An easy chase turned into a disaster of sorts due to the pressure applied by the Dutch in the middle overs, but thanks to some cool-headedness from Faheem Ashraf under lights, Pakistan were able to win.
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