Faheem Ashraf snatched victory from the jaws of Netherlands and turned the entire match in 11 balls:

News India Live, Digital Desk: On Saturday (February 7, 2026), Pakistan defeated Netherlands in the first match of Group A played at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo. However, this victory was not as easy for Pakistan as was expected. At one time, Netherlands had prepared for a big upset by falling 7 wickets for 114 runs of Pakistan.

1. Faheem Ashraf: The real hero of the match

When Pakistan got the last 29 runs in 2 overs (12 balls) With only 3 wickets remaining, Faheem Ashraf took charge.

19th over: In this over of Logan Van Beek, Faheem 3 sixes and 1 four root total 24 runs Collect.

the boon of life: On the second ball of the same over, Max O’Dowd missed an easy catch of Faheem, which cost the Netherlands dearly.

Finishing Touch: Faheem has 29 runs unbeaten in 11 balls Made (2 fours, 3 sixes) and sealed the victory by hitting a four on the third ball of the 20th over. them for this performance ‘Player of the Match’ Chosen.

2. Match Scorecard Summary

Bowling (Pakistan): Abrar Ahmed and Sam Ayub took 2 wickets each, while Shaheen Afridi got 1 wicket.

Bowling (Netherlands): Paul van Meekeren and Aryan Dutt shook Pakistan’s middle order by taking 2-2 wickets.

3. Pakistan’s middle order collapse

At one time Pakistan’s score was 98/2 in 11 overs and victory seemed certain. But after this:

The momentum deteriorated as soon as Sahibzada Farhan (47) and Babar Azam (15) were out.

The team next 5 wickets within 16 runs Lost, making the score 114/7.

Salman Ali Aga (captain) could score only 12 runs and Usman Khan was out for zero.

4. Meaning of victory

This win is very important psychologically for Pakistan, as the team was struggling with captaincy and team selection controversies before the tournament. Netherlands once again proved that they are not a small team and can spoil the mathematics of any big team in the coming matches.