Netherlands vs Pakistan T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Saim Ayub to maul the Dutch attack

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 11 minutes ago

Simon Lewis 11 minutes ago

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Saim Ayub scored 56 off 37 balls in the 3rd T20I win over Australia.
Michael Levitt has scored 90, 86, 22, 25, 34 & 20 runs in his last 7 innings.
Can Pakistan get off to a winning start to the World Cup in search of a second title?

Pakistan's Saim Ayub hits out against Australia (Getty Images).

Netherlands vs Pakistan Predictions

Pakistan comes into the tournament on the back of a 3-0 series win over Australia. The Netherlands struggle against top-ranked opposition, so Pakistan is the clear winner in my book.

Netherlands vs Pakistan Predictions
Head-to-Head
Netherlands Form
Pakistan Form
Netherlands vs Pakistan Team News & Squads

Pakistan’s Saim Ayub has scored 24, 40, 23 & 56 in his last 5 innings.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam scored 50* off 36 balls against Australia.
Netherlands’ Michael Levitt has scored 20-plus in 8 of his last 9 innings.
Netherlands’ Logan van Beek hit three sixes in his 31-ball 40* against Zimbabwe.

Head-to-Head

Pakistan have won both of their previous two T20Is against the Netherlands.

Netherlands Form

After wins against Guernsey and Italy, Italy lost back-to-back matches against Bangladesh in a 2-0 series defeat. They lost their warm-up game against Zimbabwe by 29 runs.

Michael Levitt has been scoring consistently at the top of the order, with the highlights being scores of 90 against Scotland and 86 against Nepal in June.

Logan van Beek scored 40* off 31 balls (three sixes) in the warm-up match against Zimbabwe. He also took 3/22 off his three overs in Zimbabwe’s innings.

Pakistan Form

Pakistan come into the tournament on the back of a 1-1 series draw with Sri Lanka followed by a 3-0 series triumph over Australia, with two of those wins by 90 and 111 runs.

Saim Ayub has been the backbone of Pakistan’s batting in recent months, scoring 23-plus in seven of his last 10 innings. Babar Azam’s lean form in the Big Bash has taken an uptick in the series against Australia, scoring 24 and 50* in his three innings. Fakhar Zaman has been light on runs but is a reliable performer in whiteball cricket.

Shadab Khan smashed 46 off 19 balls against Australia, including five sixes. He took 3/26 in the 2nd T20I against the Aussies and 2/25 in the win over Sri Lanka in the 1st T20I. Mohammad Nawaz took 5/18 in the 3rd T20I win over Australia on the back of solid figures of 1/11, 1/25 and 1/8 in his previous three matches. He also chipped in with scores of 15* and 28.

Netherlands vs Pakistan Team News & Squads

Pakistan skipper Salman Agha was impressed by his side’s performance against Australia in the warm-up series: “I think it's a complete performance. We dominated them. I am in a great frame of mind right now. I know how to handle the captaincy when I go out to bat and I really want to do that in the World Cup as well. It is not easy when you have five spinners and only 20 overs because they are all outstanding bowlers and whenever they come on, they take wickets. I don't see myself bowling many overs,” said Agha.

Netherlands captain Scott Edwards was disappointed by his side’s loss to Zimbabwe in a warm-up match: "It was an ordinary performance in all facets and obviously, it's very disappointing. We probably didn't assess the conditions well. The wicket was on the slower side compared to what we're used to and we were a little slow to react. When you're defending 100 on a wicket like that it's always pretty tough and you need to get three or four wickets in the Powerplay," said Edwards.

Pakistan Squad: Salman Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (w), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (w), Usman Tariq.

Netherlands Squad: Scott Edwards (c / w), Colin Ackermann, Noah Croes, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Fred Klaassen, Kyle Klein, Michael Levitt, Zach Lion-Cachet, Max O'Dowd, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren.

Verdict

Pakistan v Netherlands T20 World Cup

I am backing Pakistan to win. I am also backing Saim Ayub to top score for Pakistan.

Michael Levitt is a good bet to top score for the Netherlands.

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