Pakistan managed to escape a humiliation at the hands of Netherlands in their T20 World Cup 2026 opener in Colombo on Saturday (February 9).

Chasing 148 to win, the Men in Green needed 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 Logan van Beek’s full toss was dropped by Max O'Dowd. Following the lifeline, the Pakistan all-rounder smashed van Beek 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.

After the game, O’Dowd’s Instagram and other social media profiles were flooded with abuse and trolling – most of them presumably from the Indian fans.

Speaking to The Indian Express, O’Dowd joked that the Indian supporters seemed more disappointed with his dropped catch than the Dutch fans.

“Some of the comments were quite harsh, something that should never be said to anyone. It seems that Indian fans were angrier with me than the Dutch supporters,” O’Dowd said.

While the outcome was heartbreaking for the Netherlands, O’Dowd stressed that he and his teammates had put it behind them.

“We had a chat about things after the game, not just that catch. We could have done a lot of things better. We thought we were a bit short with the bat as well,” he added.

Max O'Dowd doesn’t feel there is a need for extra fielding drills despite the costly lapse. “I have taken such catches a thousand times. It’s just that I dropped that one and we lost the match,” he stated. “So, no additional practice.”

Netherlands will next face Namibia on Tuesday (February 10) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.