T20 World Cup: Netherlands vs Pakistan Highlights, Player of the Match, Presentation: Shadab, Rizwan guide Pak

Perth, Oct. 30: After falling to two narrow losses, Pakistan finally opened their account in the ongoing T20 World Cup as they clinched a comfortable six wicket win over Netherlands in Perth on Sunday (Oct. 30).

Having restricted Netherlands to a paltry total, Pakistan chased it down with 37 balls to spare. With the win, Pakistan now have two points from three matches. On the other hand, Netherlands have fallen to three consecutive losses. The win sees Babar Azam's men keep their T20 World Cup semifinal hope alive, while Netherlands hopes of making it to the semis ended with their loss to Pakistan.

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After electing to bat first, Netherlands fell to a paltry total, as the lethal Pakistan bowling line-up put up a clinical display. Pakistan dominated the powerplay as Netherlands laboured to 19 for the loss of 1 wicket in the powerplay. Led by Shadab, the pacers undid the Netherlands line-up.

Colin Ackermann top-scored for Netherlands scoring 27 off 27, as Netherlands was restricted to a paltry 91/9 in 20 overs. For Pakistan, Shadab was once again in stellar form as he led the attack with a three-wicket haul. While Shadab turned in figures of 3/22, Mohammad Wasim picked up two. Shaheen Shah Afridi finally opened his account in the ongoing World Cup as he pocketed a wicket, along with Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, who picked up a wicket each.

In reply, the chase was a cakewalk for Pakistan as they wrapped up their first win of this editions T20 World Cup. Though Pakistan lost a couple of wickets, they Rizwan anchored the chase with a 39-ball 49, along with Fakhar Zaman, who is returning from injury. Coming in after a long injury layoff Zaman scored a 16-ball 20. Though Pakistan comfortably chased it down, skipper Babar Azam once again failed to score. Losing his wicket to a runout, the Pak skipper, who has been struggling to get runs on the board, fell for just four off 5.

But in the end, it was a comfortable win for Pakistan, who will breathe a sigh of relief as they bounced back from their narrow win to India and then stunning loss to Zimbabwe.

While Pakistan will next take on South Africa on Thursday (Nov. 3), Netherlands will face Zimbabwe on Wednesday (Nov. 2).

Here are the post-match presentation highlights, player of the match, full list of awards, comments from the Netherlands vs Pakistan Super 12 match:

Player of the Match: Shadab Khan

Shadab Khan: This is a true pitch. I just tried to bowl on the stumps. I bowled to these players in the last series as well as in county cricket. Our bowlers put pressure in the powerplay and I could strike and that is what is about a team game. It is horrible feeling to go in there with one run remaining. But we could not finish the games in the last two games and today was about finishing it.

Babar Azam (Pakistan), Winning Captain: Very happy. Team did well with both the ball and bat. I think the length was crucial. They needed to bowl on a good length because there was bounce on the surface. Everyone executed well. We are used to chasing much better than this. Win always gives you confidence. We are taking the good things forward to the next game.

Scott Edwards (Netherlands), Losing Captain: That was still the right decision to make. We haven't batted first all tournament, we just were not good enough on the day. We were on 30 or so and 15 after the powerplay. We couldn't string in the boundaries with the bat. Bowlers put their efforts in, but 90 was never going to be enough.