Pakistan rise to top after hard-fought win over Netherlands in opening match

T20 World Cup 2026 Group A Points Table: Salman Ali Agha’s have risen to top of Points Table after their three-wicket win over Netherlands in Colombo on Saturday.

T20 World Cup 2026 Group A Points Table: Pakistan cricket team surprisingly had to battle hard to chase down a modest 148-run target against minnows Netherlands in the opening match of the Group A of the T20 World Cup 2026 on Saturday at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground in Colombo. Needing 148 to win, Pakistan collapsed dramatically from 98 for 2 in 11 overs to 114 to 7 in 16.1 overs with Netherlands bowlers running riot.

It took an explosive innings from all-rounder Faheem Ashraf and an unfortunate dropped catch by Dutch opener Max O’Dowd for Salman Ali Agha’s side to eke out a win by three wickets and three ball to spare. Pakistan’s tense win means that they haven’t managed to make a massive dent in the net run-rate even after managing to get two points from the win.

Check Group A points table after Pakistan’s win over Netherlands in T20 World Cup 2026 HERE…

Teams	M	W	L	T	N/R	PTS	NRR
Pakistan	1	1	0	0	0	2	0.240
Netherlands	1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.240
India	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Namibia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
USA	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Pakistan’s net run-rate current is only +0.240 after winning with only three balls to spare. They would have been hoping for a massive win when opener Sahibzada Farhan was going strong on 47 off 31 balls with 2 sixes and 4 fours. His opening partner Saim Ayub also blasted 24 off 13 balls with 1 six and 4 fours.

However, former captain Babar Azam once again struggled with the bat scoring only 15 off 18 balls with 1 fours and strike-rate well below 100.

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Faheem Ashraf rescues Pakistan

Faheem Ashraf had to come up with a blazing 29 off 11 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours to help Pakistan avoid the embarrassment of another defeat in the opening game of the tournament.

Ashraf smashed 3 sixes in the penultimate over of the match off Logan van Beek and got 24 runs in the over after the equation had come down to 29 off 12 balls at one stage.

“We have been playing this brand of cricket for this past year. Heart rates go up and down, it’s happened so many times before, we’re used to it. Shaheen and I were talking about saving wickets, knew we could take down whatever in one over. When the ball is in the air, you just want the ball to land. Our efforts are to finish games as early as possible. But you have to hold your nerves in these situations,” Player of the Match Ashraf said in the post-match presentation.

Earlier, most of Dutch batters failed to build on promising starts with skipper Scott Edwards top-scoring with 37 off 29 balls and all-rounder Bas de Leede chipping in with 30 off 25 balls.

Pakistan must win every match in their league stage as they have threatened to ‘boycott’ their Group A fixture against India in Colombo on February 15. Team India will take on USA in the next Group A fixture at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday evening.

(Group A Points table updated till Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup 2026 match)

For all latest updates of T20 World Cup 2026 you can visit: https://www.india.com/icc-mens-t20-world-cup-2026/

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The Times Of Bengal