The Netherlands were pegged back by Pakistan after the Dutch made a decent start in the first innings of their clash in the T20 World Cup 2026. The two teams face each other at the Sinhalese Sports Club as they kick off the tournament.
Pakistan are going in without their star batter Fakhar Zaman, who has been dropped due to team combinations. Pakistan are the 2022 finalists but got knocked out from the league stage of the previous World Cup after losing to India and the USA. They have been placed in Group A alongside India, the USA and Namibia, apart from the Netherlands. The Salman Ali Agha-led team comes into the tournament after having clean-swept a depleted Australian side at home 3-0. They will look to make light work of the Dutch, who come into this World Cup undercooked, with just one T20I played in a long time now. The Men in Green will know they can’t take them lightly, as the Netherlands were the ones who had stunned South Africa to knock them out of the 2022 World Cup, which made way for Pakistan.
Pakistan have threatened to boycott their league stage match against India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The clash is scheduled to take place on February 15; however, the Pakistan government has instructed its team not to take the field for the clash as it backs the ouster of Bangladesh from the tournament. The Men in Green will have to forfeit two points if they stay adamant of not facing the defending champions. This would put them under pressure and they will not have any margin for errors as losing to any of their other group members will put their progress to the Super Eight stage under big threat, just like it happened in 2024, when the USA made through after defeating the Men in Green in the league stage in Super Over after they had also lost their group encounter against India. Follow for all the latest updates on the Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup 2026.