Pakistan escapes with 3-wicket win against Netherlands in T20 World Cup opener

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Faheem Ashraf’s late assault rescued Pakistan in a thrilling three-wicket win against the Netherlands with three balls remaining in the opening game of cricket’s T20 World Cup on Saturday.

Pakistan can ill afford to lose points in any of the Group A games it plays after announcing it would boycott its Feb. 15 match in Sri Lanka against co-host India, a decision that shook the cricket world.

The boycott controversy appeared to have affected Pakistan as it crashed to 114-7 at Colombo, but Ashraf smashed an unbeaten 29 runs off 11 balls to carry the former champions to 148-7 in 19.3 overs.

The Netherlands had earlier collapsed to 147 all out in 19.5 overs, losing the last six wickets for 20 runs, on an unusual grassy wicket at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

The Netherlands was on the cusp of an upset and had squeezed Pakistan before Ashraf cut loose against fast bowler Logan van Beek in a penultimate over that cost 24 runs and swung the game. The left-handed batter lofted Van Beek for a six over mid-wicket before Max O’Dowd crucially spilled a two-handed diving catch at long-on off the very next ball.

Ashraf capitalized on his escape and clubbed two more sixes and a boundary before going on to seal the win in the next over by hitting Bas de Leede over cover for the winning boundary.

Pakistan’s batters had choked in the middle overs despite Sahibzada Farhan scoring 47 off 31 and Saim Ayub’s blistering 24 that included four fours and a six.

Fast bowler Paul van Meekeren took 2-20 and his double-wicket maiden over turned the game on its head when Farhan holed out in the outfield and Usman Khan chopped the ball back onto his stumps.

Babar Azam’s struggle in the T20 format continued when he made a scratchy 15 off 18 balls and offered a tame catch at long on while Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan also fell cheaply and Pakistan lost five wickets for 16 runs before Ashraf took the game deep.

Earlier, Netherlands captain Scott Edwards top scored with 37 off 29 balls and had guided his team to 127-4, but his dismissal in the 16th over saw the Dutch collapse.

Ayub, who was surprisingly introduced in the death overs, grabbed 2-7 in the only over he bowled. Left-arm fast bowler Salman Mirza took 3-24 that included two wickets in the final over.

Pakistan did well in the field, including Babar’s sensational catch to dismiss dangerman Michael Levitt (24) when he tossed the ball back to Shaheen Shah Afridi after losing his balance close to the long-off boundary.

The ICC has requested the Pakistan Cricket Board to reconsider its decision not to play India otherwise Pakistan will forfeit the marquee game of the tournament.

Scotland bowls against West Indies

Scotland, which replaced Bangladesh in Group C, won the toss Saturday and chose to bowl first against two-time champion West Indies at Kolkata.

India vs US

Defending champion India faces the United States later Saturday at Mumbai in a Group A match.

Namibia is also in the group.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket