Paul van Meekeren claimed they were the better side on the field.
Paul van Meekeren rued the missed opportunity to end Pakistan's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign on the opening day of the tournament itself, asserting that the Netherlands were the superior team in the curtain raiser played at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo.
Having decided to forfeit the India game, the Men in Green need to win all of their group-stage matches to secure a place in the Super 8s.
In their campaign opener, Pakistan just about managed to escape a humiliation at the hands of Netherlands. Chasing 148 to win, the 2009 champions required 29 runs off the last two overs with Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi at the crease.
Faheem got a reprieve on the second delivery of the penultimate over as his mis-hit off Max O'Dowd's full toss was dropped by Logan van Beek. Following the lifeline, the Pakistan all-rounder smashed O'Dowd for two more sixes and a four and put his team within touching distance of victory at the end of the 19th over.
Faheem eventually hit Bas de Leede for a four on the third delivery of the final over to seal the deal for Pakistan.
Reflecting on his team's performance, van Meekeren minced no words as he said Pakistan did not prevail but Netherlands faltered, claiming that they were the better side on the field.
"We were the better team today, especially in the bowling department. We deserved to win that game and we should have potentially sent Pakistan home after today, so yeah it's a shame but it is what it is," van Meekeren said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"I'm very proud of the guys, I think we probably didn't get the runs on the board that we wanted, but to fight back after a strong start from Pakistan with the bat it shows how the culture that we've created in the team and the never say die attitude," he added.
The right-arm quick, however, credited the Salman Ali Agha-led side for taking the game deep, which he felt the Dutch missed while batting first.
"I think the one thing I have to give Pakistan credit for is taking the game deep. I mean we should have probably done it with the bat maybe, taking the innings a little bit deeper because you can see what you can do if you got a batsman who's in - in the last two overs and be able to take a bit more risk," van Meekeren remarked.
"But I think the conditions were very nice for us to bowl to and there was a lot of pressure on Pakistan in those last few overs and we just probably didn't execute the way we wanted to and these World Cup moments - it's small margins. Sometimes one ball, but it's just a very disappointing feeling at the moment," he concluded.