Twitter Reactions: Netherlands make Pakistan toil to earn victory in first ODI

Pakistan registered a 16-run win over the Netherlands in the first One Day International at the Hazelaarweg, Rotterdam to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. The Men in Green have rested pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi for the ongoing series, but the other bowlers ensured that he was not missed for this encounter.

Afridi has been rested so that he can be fresh for the Asia Cup 2022 clash against arch-rivals India in Dubai on August 28 and this was a perfect opportunity for the other bowlers to up their game and rediscover their rhythm ahead of the continental tournament. Not only the bowlers, but even the batters displayed an outstanding performance.

A hard-fought win for Pakistan in the first ODI

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. They lost Imam-ul-Haq cheaply before skipper Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman carried out the rescue act with a 168-run second-wicket stand. Babar scored 74 runs while Zaman went on to notch up an excellent century. He scored a run-a-ball 109 and looked well-set for a big score before an unfortunate run-out brought curtains down on his innings.

The visitors then suffered a middle-order collapse. However, an unbeaten 28-ball 48 by spin bowling all-rounder Shadab Khan towards the end and a supporting 27 not out from Agha Salman helped Pakistan post a mammoth 314/6.

In reply, the target seemed to be way beyond the Dutch’s reach after they were reduced to 62/3 in the 13th over before Vikramjit Singh and Tom Cooper (65 each) resurrected the Netherlands innings with a 97-run stand for the fourth wicket. Nonetheless, once the duo was dismissed, the hosts found themselves in all sorts of trouble as they suffered a batting collapse.

While the Netherlands lost the plot in the slog overs, it was skipper and wicketkeeper-batter Scott Edwards who single-handedly kept his side in the game and remained unbeaten scoring 71 runs off 60 balls. Unfortunately for him and the Dutch, it was not enough as the home side were restricted to 298/8.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Pakistan’s win