Holland v Pakistan
At Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo, September 21
15-Apr-2003
At Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo, September 21. Pakistan won by nine wickets. Toss: Holland. International debuts: J. F. Kloppenburg, H-J. C. Mol.
Pakistan blew up the rope bridge that separates cricket's haves and have-nots and Holland duly
fell into the chasm. The first strands were snapped in a fiery opening burst from Waqar Younis
and Shoaib Akhtar, and by the time Shahid Afridi slammed the joint second-fastest fifty in one-day
internationals, Holland had long dropped out of sight. The Dutch total of 136 - which lasted
all 50 overs and featured 11 maidens and only nine fours - was all thanks to de Leede, van Troost
and Lefebvre. Pakistan, still smarting from their opening-day humiliation, knocked off the runs
with two-thirds of their overs to spare. Adeel Raja's off-spin summed up the Dutch effort: his first
over was a maiden; his next eight balls went for 31. Afridi's 55 came off 18 balls with six sixes,
four of them in Raja's second over. By contrast, Imran Nazir's 59 from 40 balls was nothing
special, and Saeed Anwar's 28 from 40 was tedious.
Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi