PAK vs NED, World Cup 2023: Pakistan eye strong start against Netherlands; LIVE streaming and more

Pakistan are set to begin their journey in the 2023 ICC World Cup less than 24 hours after New Zealand decimated defending champions England in the tournament opener.

The Black Caps avenged their heartbreak in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s with a nine-wicket mauling of England in Match 1 at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.

Pakistan, on the other hand, commence their campaign against Netherlands at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, which has been their base since their arrival on Indian soil.

Coming into it, Pakistan aren’t exactly high on confidence. All the momentum that they had gained during the 4-1 victory over New Zealand in the ODI series at home as well as the 3-0 sweep of Afghanistan evaporated at the Asia Cup.

The Men in Green had entered the tournament as one of the favourites and had begun with a 238-run mauling of Nepal along with a solid bowling performance against India in a match that ultimately got washed out. Pakistan were right on top after notching up a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in the Super Fours.

However, it was their 228-run hammering at the hands of arch-rivals India that appears to have derailed their progress. The famed Pakistani attack, which had reduced India to 66/4 in Pallekele, had been blown away by the Indian top four with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul slamming hundreds, while the batters hardly got going and barely managed to cross the 100-run mark.

The record defeat appeared to have dented their confidence, for they would end up losing a thrilling do-or-die contest against Sri Lanka in Colombo, finishing at the bottom of the Super Four table and failing to reach the final in the process.

What’s more, Pakistan ended up losing out on the services of one of their pace mainstays with new-ball specialist Naseem Shah picking up a shoulder injury during the Super Four match against India and getting ruled out of the tournament as a result.

Pakistan ended up including Hasan Ali as his replacement, though captain Babar and head coach Mickey Arthur are likely to go with Mohammad Wasim over him. What Shah’s absence has also done is increase the workload on Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, Pakistan’s primary weapons in this World Cup. With Shah out of the picture, Rauf’s role in the attack might change from first-change bowler to a new-ball operator.

Though they retain the ‘minnows’ tag entering the event, Netherlands are one team that cannot be taken lightly at any cost. The Dutch, after all, had knocked South Africa out of the race to the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.

Netherlands were also impressive in the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe earlier this year, where they dished out one of the most memorable performances in international cricket in recent memory against the West Indies. The Dutch refused to give up despite being set a steep 375 to win by the Windies, and powered by brilliant knocks from Teja Nidamanuru (111), captain Scott Edwards (67) and Logan van Beek’s 14-ball 28, ended up tying the game off the last ball.

Van Beek would then smash 30 runs in the Super Four and grab two wickets to power the ‘Flying Dutchmen’ to one of their most famous cricketing victories till date.

Netherlands would later make the cut for the World Cup with victories over Oman and Scotland — the latter a virtual knockout — and finish second behind Sri Lanka.

Pakistan vs Netherlands World Cup 2023 match date

The Pakistan vs Netherlands Cricket World Cup match will be played on Friday, 6 October.

Pakistan vs Netherlands World Cup 2023 match time

The Pakistan vs Netherlands Cricket World Cup match will start at 2 PM IST. The toss will take place at 1.30 PM IST.

Pakistan vs Netherlands World Cup 2023 match venue

The Pakistan vs Netherlands Cricket World Cup match will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Pakistan vs Netherlands World Cup 2023 match LIVE Streaming

The Pakistan vs Netherlands Cricket World Cup match will be broadcast live on Star Sports Network and the live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar.

Pakistan vs Netherlands head-to-head

Pakistan lead 6-0 in their head-to-head record against the Dutch in the ODI format. The two sides were also supposed to face off in a three-match ODI series in the summer of 2020 in Netherlands, only for the series to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan and Netherlands first squared off in the 1996 World Cup in Lahore, with the home team winning by eight wickets. The only other time they met in a World Cup was seven years later in Paarl, which the Waqar Younis-led side won by 97 runs.

Squads:

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Usama Mir, Abdullah Shafique

Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O’Dowd, Wesley Barresi, Scott Edwards(wk/c), Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Teja Nidamanuru, Roelof van der Merwe, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Paul van Meekeren, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Shariz Ahmad