It was quintessential Pakistan. The 2009 champions flirted with disaster before surviving a self-inflicted heart-stopper against the Netherlands in their T20 World Cup 2026 opener in Colombo on Saturday, February 7. Chasing a modest 148, Pakistan were cruising before a sudden cluster of wickets made the pursuit look improbable. It took a late-overs blitz from Faheem Ashraf to see them across the line by the narrowest of whiskers.
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For the best part of the afternoon, it appeared the world was hurtling towards the apocalypse. Quite simply, Pakistan were failing to be Pakistan on the opening day of a major ICC event. They bowled with discipline, called clearly for their catches, and patrolled the boundary without a single comical collision. They held nine chances in total, including an early ‘Catch of the Tournament’ contender from Babar Azam. After bundling the Netherlands out for 147, Pakistan looked set for an early night, coasting at 98 for 2 in the 11th over.
However, this is Pakistan, and they seemingly consider it a duty to provide maximum entertainment—especially when facing lower-ranked opposition on the grandest stage. If you were hoping for a drama-free opening day from cricket’s Unquiet Ones, you were sorely mistaken. Between the 10th and 15th overs, the innings ground to a halt; they managed just 21 runs, lost three crucial wickets, and endured a boundary drought lasting 29 deliveries.
The rot started when they lost a well-set Sahibzada Farhan, who had looked like taking the game away from the Dutch with a steady 31 off 47 balls. Paul van Meekeren struck the decisive blow, removing the opener with a well-directed bouncer. Even then, the alarm bells weren’t quite ringing—Pakistan still appeared to have the chase well in hand.
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