Pakistan won the toss and decided to bowl first against the Netherlands in the inaugural match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo on Saturday.
The tournament opener is likely to be affected by intermittent rain, with weather forecasts predicting cloudy conditions throughout the day and an increasing chance of showers as the match progresses.
Pakistan and the Netherlands have faced off twice in the past, with the Men in Green emerging victorious on both occasions, while the Flying Dutchmen remain without a win.
Pakistan have been drawn in Group A alongside India, the USA, Namibia, and the Netherlands. The Green Shirts boycotted their match against arch-rivals India and are now set to face the USA and Namibia on February 10 and 18 at the same venue.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan(wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(c/wk), Zach Lion Cachet, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Paul van Meekeren.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.
