Salman Ali Agha won the toss and chose to bowl first to take advantage of the damp and cloudy conditions.
The wicket at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, which hasn’t hosted a T20 in 16 years, caught Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha off guard with its grass cover.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen this much grass in Sri Lanka,” Agha noted at the toss. “We are fielding three pacers and allrounders. The Netherlands is a capable team, but we aim to stick to our game plan.”
The Netherlands has previously shown it can surprise bigger teams in T20 World Cups, including a notable victory against South Africa in 2022 in Australia that helped Pakistan advance to the semifinals.
Captain Scott Edwards expressed confidence, saying his team has adjusted well after spending over a month in India and Sri Lanka.
“This is a significant match for us, as are the next three,” Edwards added.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (captain), Zach Lion-Cachet, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Paul van Meekeren.
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Babar Azam, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed.
