Faheem Ashraf leads Pakistan to victory in a losing match

It seemed like the target was trivial. Pakistan made it seem so by scoring 61 in 6 overs and 90 in 10 overs. That match was a bit of a letdown for the 2009 champions. However, in the end, it was not to Faheem Ashraf's advantage. Towards the end, his brilliant cameo of 29 runs off 11 balls gave Pakistan a breathtaking 3-wicket victory.

Due to the India match boycott, every match is now do or die for Pakistan, and we have to keep an eye on the net run rate as well. That is why we want big wins. Maybe that is why, despite the target of 148 runs, Pakistan was scoring 10 runs per over at the beginning. Saim Ayub started the innings. When he returned in the third over of the innings with 24 off 13 balls, the team's total was 27.

After his departure, Sahibzada Farhan took over. Captain Salman Ali Agha, who was out for three, quickly returned, but Farhan was taking the team ahead with an innings of 47 runs off 31 balls. However, Pakistan was in trouble as soon as he was out. He departed for 98 runs, and the team also lost Usman Khan and Babar Azam within 7 balls of that. The situation worsened when Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz were lost for 114 runs each. Pakistan lost 7 wickets while being 34 runs away.

Then Ashraf Jadhur started. Although his path was not smooth. He hit a six on the first ball of the 19th over, but he gave it away in the next ball. However, Max O'Dowd could not take the catch. In that over, he ended the Dutch's chances with two more sixes and a four. Salman's team had no problem getting that 5 runs in the last over. Although Fahim is basically an all-rounder, he was not brought in to bowl today, he performed his duty with the bat like a specialist batter.

Earlier, the Netherlands started well after losing the toss and opted to bat. Michael Levitt batted aggressively. However, his innings of 24 runs off 15 balls was stopped by Babar Azam. He was caught while playing a lofted drive. Babar ran and sent the ball inside before it touched the boundary, Shaheen Afridi completed the catch. Levitt went back with this catch.

After that, the Netherlands started losing wickets at regular intervals. Colin Ackerman who was 20 runs was bowled by Abrar Ahmed. Scott Edwards scored the highest in the innings with 37 runs, Bas de Liede accompanied him with 30 runs.

However, everything collapsed in the 17th over. Edwards was caught at square leg off Abrar. In this over, Saim Ayub, who came to bowl for the first time, dismissed Logan van Beek in just two balls. He returned for a duck. In the next two balls, Jack Lyon-Cachet was caught at long on. Pakistan took control of the match with these three wickets.

Earlier, the Netherlands scored 79 runs in 10 overs. This was their highest score in the first 10 overs against Pakistan. However, they could not handle the pressure after that. They were all out for 147 runs. Although Pakistan lost their way for a moment while chasing, they eventually won.