Colombo:All-rounder Faheem Ashraf emerged as the hero for Pakistan, hammering 29 off 11 balls in a stunning late assault to snatch a dramatic three-wicket win over the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup opener here on Saturday.
Chasing 148 for a win, Pakistan were 90 for 2 at the halfway stage but lost wickets in a heap as they were 114 for 7 in 16.1 overs, needing 34 more runs. It looked all but over for Pakistan at that stage but walking in at number 8, Ashraf, who was dropped on 7, had other plans.
Brief Scores:
Netherlands: 147 all out in 19.5 overs (Scott Edwards 37, Bas de Leede 30; Salman Mirza 3/24, Saim Ayub 2/7, Mohammad Nawaz 2/38, Abrar Ahmed 2/23) lost to Pakistan: 148 for 7 in 19.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 47, Faheem Ashraf 29 not out, Paul van Meekeren 2/20, Aryan Dutt 2/33) by 3 wickets.
