India, Feb. 8 -- It was a case of so close yet so far for the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2026's opening match against Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Salman Agha and his team made heavy work of the 148-run chase, and the Netherlands were ever so close to pulling off an upset one for the ages. However, Max ODowd erred in the deep in the penultimate over of the game, dropping a relatively easy catch, paving the way for Faheem Ashraf to seal the deal for Pakistan. The left-handed batter played an unbeaten 29-run knock off 11 balls, including 24 runs of Logan van Beek's over, to help Pakistan register a narrow three-wicket win with three balls to spare.

Netherlands pacer Paul van Meekeren was dejected after the loss i...