Pakistan vs Netherlands Live Score, T20 World Cup 2026 – Edwards, de Leede, keep Netherlands on track
Team news
Pakistan left Sahibzada Farhan out in their most recent match, but he is likely to return. They expect spin to play a vital part at this venue, and are expected to field just two fast bowlers. Babar Azam’s place in the side is far from a settled question, but having stuck by him of late, dropping him now appears a remote possibility at best.
Pakistan (probable): 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Salman Agha (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Fakhar Zaman/Shadab Khan, 6 Usman Khan (wk), 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Salman Mirza, 10 Usman Tariq, 11 Abrar Ahmed
Netherlands (probable): 1 Michael Levitt, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Colin Ackermann, 4 Scott Edwards (capt, wk), 5 Bas de Leede, 6 Zach Lion-Cachet, 7 Logan van Beek, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Kyle Klein, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Paul van Meekeren
Pitch and conditions
The Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo has only ever hosted two T20Is, and that was over 16 years ago. As such, how the pitch might play is little more than a guessing game, though personnel at the ground expect it to be good for batting, and to carry something for seamers early on. Spin will invariably play a role, though apparently not nearly as heavily as it does at the Premadasa.
Whether the weather plays ball is also very much an open question, with heavy rain forecast the eve of the game, and light showers the afternoon of. With the game in the morning, the famous Sri Lankan groundstaff may have their work cut out if we are to sneak in a full contest.
Stats and trivia
Pakistan were a beneficiary of Netherlands’ most famous T20I win, when they beat South Africa in Adelaide at the 2022 World Cup, knocking them out of the tournament and securing qualification to the next edition. It was a result Pakistan took advantage of to make a run all the way to the final.
Mohammad Nawaz is four scalps shy of overtaking Shahid Afridi to move up to fourth on the list of all-time T20I wicket-takers for Pakistan, and six short of 100 T20I wickets.
Since Netherlands last took part in a T20I, Pakistan have played 24.
Quotes
“Pakistan is in great form. I think the 3-0 series win over Australia shows that. I’m not going to come out here the day before a game and tell you what we’re going to exploit.”
Max O’Dowd isn’t going to divulge Netherlands’ plan
