Netherlands walked away from the SSC on Saturday evening wondering how a match they had controlled for long stretches got away. Chasing 148, Pakistan stumbled repeatedly, yet somehow reached the line with two balls to spare. The Dutch dressing-room looked more like a morgue than a changing area.
“I want to be very clear Pakistan didn’t win the game today, we lost the game against ourself.” Paul van Meekeren’s first line in the post-match media conference was blunt, and the bowler never softened his stance.
He had reasons. Netherlands were 50 for 2 after the powerplay and 123 for 4 after 15 overs, Scott Edwards well set. A finishing burst of 170 looked realistic. Instead three wickets in five balls – two of them self-inflicted – left them scrambling to 147 for 8. “We were the better team today, especially in the bowling department. We deserved to win that game and we should have potentially sent Pakistan home after today, so yeah it’s a shame but it is what it is.”
Even with the under-par total, the orange shirts soon had Pakistan guessing. Van Meekeren’s second spell prised out Sahibzada Farhan – a superb sliding take from Roelof van der Merwe at deep square – and then Usman Khan chopped the next legal ball on. Moments later Babar Azam pulled to deep midwicket. Suddenly Pakistan were 104 for 6 and sinking.
Van Meekeren finished with 2 for 20, figures that flattered Pakistan more than him. “I’m very proud of the guys, I think we probably didn’t get the runs on the board that we wanted, but to fight back after a strong start from Pakistan with the bat it shows how the culture that we’ve created in the team and the never say die attitude.”
The turning point, though, came with 23 needed from 11. Faheem Ashraf’s flat six just cleared long-off; next ball he skied high towards the cover boundary. Max O’Dowd circled, steadied, but grassed it. From there Faheem and Shaheen Afridi pinched the 19th over, leaving only nine to win. A scrambled brace, a sliced four and a nudged single ended it.
“Tough to say,” Van Meekeren admitted when asked why his side faltered twice at the critical junctures. “I think the one thing I have to give Pakistan credit for is taking the game deep. I mean we should have probably done it with the bat maybe, taking the innings a little bit deeper because you can see what you can do if you got a batsman who’s in – in the last two overs and be able to take a bit more risk.
“But I think the conditions were very nice for us to bowl to and there was a lot of pressure on Pakistan in those last few overs and we just probably didn’t execute the way we wanted to and these World Cup moments – it’s small margins. Sometimes one ball, but it’s just a very disappointing feeling at the moment.”
Pakistan captain Babar, relieved rather than jubilant, acknowledged that luck had played its part. “Credit to Netherlands, they out-bowled us for most of the innings,” he said. “But tournaments are about finding a way, and Faheem showed composure at the end.”
For all the disappointment, the Dutch camp can take plenty forward. Tim Pringle’s left-arm spin conceded only 24, van der Merwe’s energy in the field was infectious, and Edwards again showed he belongs at this level with a busy 45. The trouble was the clatter around him: two needless run-outs, a reverse-sweep miscued, and a slog-sweep that never got past mid-on.
Coach Ryan Cook’s brief dressing-room debrief focused on moving quickly. The Netherlands are back in action on Monday against South Africa, whose pace battery looks tailor-made for Colombo’s even bounce. “There’s no magic speech,” Cook said quietly in the corridor. “They know they were good enough tonight. Now the challenge is to repeat 95 per cent of that and then tidy the rest.”
The equation in Group A has instantly tightened. Pakistan have points on the board; Netherlands must now beat at least one of the major sides and avoid slipping up against USA later in the week. It is doable, but the margin for error has shrunk.
Van Meekeren, despite the raw emotion, tried to frame the bigger picture. “We’ve shown again we can compete with the best. If we tidy up those small bits – one over, one catch – the result flips. That’s the focus.”
Plenty of cricket remains, yet Netherlands may look back at the O’Dowd chance or their brief batting wobble and sigh. On such slivers campaigns often swing. For now, they travel south, pockets full of regrets but also genuine belief they can still cause a stir.
