Pakistan vs Netherlands LIVE Score, ICC T20 World Cup 2026 LIVE Scorecard: Amid Rain Threat, Pakistan Skipper Salman Ali Agha Opts To Bowl

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Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup, Live Updates: Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha won the toss and opted to bowl against Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2026, Group A opening match on Saturday in Colombo. The focus will be entirely on Colombo's weather as the forecast has predicted heavy rainfall during the day. Keeping the rain threat aside, Salman Ali Agha and Co aim for a dominating win over Netherlands, in order to strengthen their chances of qualification into the Super Eight. Amid their controversy of boycotting the match against India, Pakistan have to win all the remaining three games to qualify for the Super Eight. (Live Scorecard)

Pakistan vs Netherlands Live Updates, T20 World Cup 2026, Group A match:

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T20 World Cup 2026 Live: Time for national anthems

Players of both the teams are out on the field for their respective national anthems. The T20 World Cup 2026 opening match between Pakistan and Netherlands shall begin shortly. Stay tuned with us for all the live updates.

Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup Live: Netherlands's Playing XI

Netherlands (Playing XI): Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(w/c), Zach Lion Cachet, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Paul van Meekeren.

Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup Live: Pakistan's Playing XI

Pakistan (Playing XI): Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan(w), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed.

PAK vs NED, T20 World Cup Live: Here's what Edwards said at the toss

"We would have bowled first as well, but happy to bat first. You have four matches and you got to win three. We've been in India and Sri Lanka for the last month and a half now. Plenty of all-rounders, plenty of options for bowling and batting," said Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards.

PAK vs NED, T20 World Cup Live: Here's what Salman said at the toss

"We would look to field first. If there's any moisture, we want to use that. We are playing three seamers. They are a very good side. We want to execute our plans," said Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha.

T20 World Cup 2026 Live: Toss

Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha wins the toss, opts to bowl against Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2026, Group A opening match in Colombo.

T20 World Cup 2026 Live: Here's what Max O'Dowd had said

Asked if Pakistan would be under huge pressure due to the impending pull-out, Max O'Dowd replied: "Look, to be honest, I don't have much to say about Pakistan boycotting against India, that's completely out of our control. We just kind of focus on what we're doing, what we need to do tomorrow, which is to try and beat Pakistan.

T20 World Cup 2026 Live: Netherlands opener not bothered about Pak's controversy

The "perceived" pressure on Pakistan after deciding to boycott the game against India is of no concern to the Netherlands opener Max O'Dowd, who says his team is firmly focused on winning its T20 World Cup opener against Salman Ali Agha's men.

PAK vs NED, T20 World Cup Live: Chances of rain

Time Chances of rainfall

11:00 AM 5%

12:00 PM 8%

1:00 PM 60%

2:00 PM 68%

3:00 PM 60%

4:00 PM 30%

PAK vs NED, T20 World Cup Live: Rain on the cards

Another growing concern for Pakistan ahead of the match is the weather in Colombo. According to forecasts, the city is expected to witness heavy rainfall during the day. Although the sun is currently shining, weather reports suggest that rain clouds are likely to roll in as the day progresses, potentially disrupting play.

Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup Live: Here's what Salman had said

Asked how he would deal with the situation, Salman told reporters: "By just avoiding that. It's something we, as a group, we don't really talk about and we don't really see what's happening outside in the group. And I think that's the best we can do. We can avoid all this and just focus on our game."

Pakistan vs Netherlands T20 World Cup Live: Salman on India boycott row

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha on Friday said the team will try to shut out the off-field noise surrounding its planned boycott of the India match and instead focus on winning remaining group games to qualify for the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage.

T20 World Cup 2026 Live: The return of Babar Azam

Led by head coach Mike Hesson, Pakistan sit sixth in the T20 team rankings. They will be captained by Salman Ali Agha, who is deftly handling increased attention on Babar Azam, who has returned to the squad having been dropped for the Asia Cup, where Pakistan finished as runners-up to India.

T20 World Cup 2026 Live: Pakistan eye redemption

Pakistan will be looking to put their previous T20 World Cup campaign behind them. The 2009 champions failed to get out of the group stages for the first time after defeats to rivals India and newcomers the USA. They will hope it is just a blip, having reached the final and the semi-finals in their two appearances before 2024.

PAK vs NED, T20 World Cup Live: A must-win game for Pakistan

With Pakistan boycotting their league game against India as a show of solidarity for the ousted Bangladesh, they would have to win all their remaining three games starting with the one against Netherlands in order to qualify for the Super Eights.

PAK vs NED, T20 World Cup Live: Pakistan's boycott call

Pakistan, who won the title in 2009, are coming into the tournament in the wake of their decision to boycott the February 15 group game against arch-rivals India in solidarity with Bangladesh, who were replaced by Scotland after refusing to travel to India citing security concerns.

T20 World Cup 2026 Live: 10th edition of the tournament

Since its inception in 2007, T20 World Cup has produced thrilling games and treated the cricket fans with loads of entertainment. Now, the tournament has reached its tenth edition and the excitement among the fans knows no bounds.

T20 World Cup 2026 Live: Hello

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the T20 World Cup 2026. The opening Group A match is between Pakistan and Netherlands at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo. Stay tuned for all the live updates.

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