Pakistan's Salman Mirza claims three-fer on T20 WC debut: Stats
What's the story
Pakistan's bowlers put on a stellar performance against the Netherlands in the opening match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The Dutch team, which looked set to post a challenging total of over 170 runs, was bundled out for just 147 in 19.5 overs at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club. While the spin trio Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, and Saim Ayub took two wickets each, pacer Salman Mirza trapped three batters. Here we decode Mirza's performance.
Batting collapse
Mirza shines with three-fer
Mirza, playing his maiden T20 WC game, struck with the new ball as opener Max O'Dowd (5) departed cheaply. The Dutch middle order struggled against Pakistan's spinners as Scott Edwards was the top scorer for his team with a modest 37 runs off 29 balls. Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann chipped in with 30 and 20 runs respectively. Mirza, who bowled the final over, claimed the last two wickets to end the innings.
Spell
A look at Mirza's stats
Mirza celebrated his T20 WC debut with figures worth 3/24 from 3.5 overs. In 14 T20I matches for Pakistan, the pacer has raced to 22 wickets at an average of 15.18 (ER: 6.36). Overall in the 20-over format, Mirza has bagged 64 scalps from 40 games while averaging over 15, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Spinners
Two-fers for spinners
Mohammad Nawaz and Abrar Ahmed took two wickets apiece in their respective four-over spells. The former went for 38 runs while Abrar conceded just 23. Nawaz has raced to 96 T20I scalps at 20.73. Abrar has completed 48 scalps at 16.91. Saim Ayub, who claimed 2/7 in his only over, now boasts 26 wickets at 22.26.