Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi took a stunning relay catch in the T20 World Cup 2026 opener between Pakistan and the Netherlands in Colombo.
The incident happened on the second ball of the fifth over in the first innings. Levitt went for a big shot down the ground, but the ball came off the lower part of the bat and went high in the air.
Babar Azam, positioned at long-off, ran to his right and took the catch with both hands. However, his momentum carried him beyond the boundary rope. Just before his right foot touched the ground outside the field, Babar smartly tossed the ball back into the air. Shaheen Afridi, who had run back from mid-on, completed the catch safely.
The brilliant relay catch led to big celebrations among the Pakistan players, as the dangerous Michael Levitt was dismissed. Levitt departed after scoring 24 off 15 balls, including three fours and one six.
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The Netherlands started the game well, reaching 50/2 in the powerplay. However, once the spinners came into action, they lost wickets at regular intervals. Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, and Saim Ayub picked up two wickets each, as the Netherlands lost seven wickets within 17 overs.
Pakistan and Netherlands have met twice before in the T20 World Cup, which was in the 2009 and 2022 editions, with Pakistan winning on both occasions comfortably. Pakistan are favourites to win again and will look to start their campaign on a high note with a victory.
They will play all their group matches in Colombo, with three games at the Sinhalese Sports Club and one against India at the R Premadasa Stadium. In the previous edition, they were eliminated at the group stage after defeats against India and USA. This time, they will aim to do better and qualify for the Super 8 stage atleast.
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan(w), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(w/c), Zach Lion Cachet, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Paul van Meekeren.
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