Watch: Michael Levitt smashes Shaheen Afridi for massive six during PAK vs NED T20 World Cup 2026 clash

Michael Levitt came up with a different plan against the left-arm Pakistan pacer, Shaheen Afridi, during the opening encounter of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, where the right-handed batter used his feet on the very first ball to time the pacer into the fine leg region for a four. 

In the second over of Shaheen Afridi, Levitt moved into the leg side and muscled the short of a length delivery over the deep mid-wicket region for a fine boundary. Two balls later, he stood tall to dispatch the seamer over deep backward square leg for a thumping pull short for a six, as it put enormous pressure on Afridi.

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But he was dismissed for 24 runs in 15 balls with the help of three boundaries and one six. He looked to go down the ground against Mohammad Nawaz as Babar Azam and Afridi combined a fine catch at the rope to complete it and sent back the opening batter, which brought new life for the Asian side.

Michael Levitt pulls Shaheen Afridi for 6 in PAK vs NED T20 WC 2026 clash 

The Netherlands made a strong start with the bat inside the powerplay, with 50 runs coming for the loss of two wickets. But they lost the plot in the middle overs and were bundled out for 147 runs. Their captain, Scott Edwards, played a decent knock of 37 runs in 29 balls, scoring three fours and one six.

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Meanwhile, Ackerman got 20 runs in 14 balls while Aryan Dutt smashed 13 runs in just eight balls to see his side not being able to play the full quota of 20 overs. Salman Mirza was the peak of the bowler for Pakistan with figures of 3/24 in 3.5 overs.

In reply, Pakistan went off to a good start with Saim Ayub smashing 24 runs in 13 balls with the help of four fours and one six before Aryan Dutt had the last laugh to draw the first blood with the wicket of the southpaw.

Brief Scores: Netherlands 147 (Scott Edwards 37, Salman Mirza 3/24, Saim Ayub 2/7) vs Pakistan 38/1 (Saim Ayub 24, Aryan Dutt 1/14)