Pakistan registered a fine win over Netherlands by 6 wickets at the Optus stadium. The men in green thanks to their win were able to achieve their first points in this T20 World Cup. The win was Pakistan’s first in this edition of the competition after having succumbed to losses in each of their first two games.
The Babar Azam lead side currently sits 5th in its group with 2 points in 3 matches. Netherlands on the other hand suffered a third straight loss in three matches so far that they have played in the Super 12s. The team is at the bottom of its group and is yet to win a single match.
Netherlands won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan. The opening spell of Shaheed Afridi and Naseem Shah proved to be too good for the dutch top order as they could barely rotate the strike or find boundaries. The batters couldn’t accelerate the scoring and make use of the powerplay. The batting side lacked the intent which provided Pakistan’s bowlers with a chance to pressurise them with each passing delivery.
The run rate remained lower than 3.5 for the first ten overs. Colin Ackerman and Scott Edwards though looked good couldn’t continue to resist the tough overs for long. Both the set batsmen being dismissed by the 15th over meant Netherlands were in danger of being all out. The lower-order batsman however managed to save their wicket until the end and add some runs in the last 4 overs to help Netherlands post a mediocre total of 91/9 in 20 overs.
Pakistan were off to a fine start during their chase of 92. Babar Azam’s sting of low scores continued as he was dismissed via a run-out for just 4. This however didn’t stop the flow of runs as Mohammad Rizwan found his rhythm and notched up the required boundaries inside the powerplay.
The Pakistani innings continued to proceed forward despite the Dutch bowlers jolting their innings with wickets. Rizwan played a flurry of shots as he took Pakistan closer to the target. He top-scored with 49 as Pakistan eventually achieved the target in the 14th over with 6 wickets in hand.
Pakistan will next face South Africa on November 3 in a significant match. Netherlands meanwhile will face Zimbabwe in their fourth match at Adelaide Oval next.
