Faheem to the rescue as Pakistan avoid Dutch scare

If the build-up to this T20 World Cup felt unfamiliar, Pakistan brought the old chaos back in the tournament's very first match. An almost-botched chase against Netherlands was rescued in the final two overs by Faheem Ashraf's stunning 11-ball 29 not out, as Pakistan scraped home by three wickets in a game that should never have gone this far.

Pakistan needed 29 off the final two overs to win, the most they have ever scored in that phase in a successful T20I chase - a clear measure of how desperate the situation had become. But Netherlands couldn't hold their nerve and let the moment slip. Max O'Dowd spilled a straightforward catch of Faheem on 7 and the batter made full use of the reprieve, hammering the rest of the over for two sixes and a boundary to all but seal the contest and swing momentum irreversibly Pakistan's way.

Had the catch been taken, Pakistan would have been eight down with 23 needed off 10 balls.

Pakistan's narrow escape stood in contrast to how comfortably the chase had begun. Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub added 27 runs in the first two overs, and even after Aryan Dutt struck twice in the PowerPlay to remove Ayub and captain Salman Ali Agha, Farhan continued to find the boundary. Pakistan reached 61 for 2 at the end of six overs and appeared firmly in control.

Farhan then combined with Babar Azam in a 45-run stand for the third wicket, taking Pakistan to the halfway mark with little alarm. The turning point came in the 11th over when Paul van Meekeren delivered a double-wicket maiden. Farhan was caught in the deep by Roelof van der Merwe whereas Usman Khan chopped on. When Babar, who had taken 15 balls to find his first boundary, holed out to long-off soon after, the chase began to unravel.

The squeeze intensified as van Meekeren and Dutt bowled successive tight overs, pushing the required rate sharply upward. Kyle Klein then removed Mohammad Nawaz with a slower ball that induced a mistimed pull and the very next delivery saw Shadab Khan strangled down the leg side by van Beek. With wickets tumbling and pressure mounting, Netherlands suddenly looked favourites, until O'Dowd's missed chance opened the door for Faheem's late assault.

Earlier, Netherlands were sent in to bat but seemed to have left runs on the table after being bowled out for 147. Michael Levitt began the innings with a boundary off the first ball, and although both openers fell inside the PowerPlay, they still managed to reach 50. Once the field spread, however, Pakistan's spinners tightened the grip.

Abrar Ahmed made an immediate impact, having Colin Ackermann chop on in his first over. Captain Scott Edwards held the innings together through a series of small partnerships, but he too fell in the 16th over while attempting to force the pace against Abrar, a dismissal that triggered a collapse.

Saim Ayub struck twice in the following over to remove Logan van Beek and Zach Lion Cachet as Netherlands slid from 127 for 4 to 147 all out. Mohammad Nawaz picked up two wickets while Salman Mirza wrapped up the innings with two in the final over to finish with figures of 3 for 24.

Edwards top-scored with a 29-ball 37, but Netherlands needed one batter to bat deep. Pakistan, for their part, were sharp in the field throughout. Sharp catches from Salman Ali Agha and Sahibzada Farhan alongwith a relay effort from Babar and Shaheen Afridi helped compensate for the middle-order batting struggles that followed and nearly undid them.

Brief Scores:Netherlands 147 in 19.5 overs (Scott Edwards 37; Salman Mirza 3-24) lost to Pakistan 148/7 in 19.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 47, Faheem Ashraf 29*; Paul van Meekeren 2-20) by 3 wickets