"Netherlands Ka Hassan Ali": Max O'Dowd Trolled For Catch Drop vs Pakistan

The T20 World Cup 2026 began on a thrilling note as Pakistan clinched a three-wicket victory over the Netherlands in the opening Group A match on Saturday. Playing in Colombo, Salman Ali Agha and his side bowled the Netherlands out for 148. Chasing the target, Pakistan started strongly before the Netherlands fought back with a flurry of wickets. With three wickets in hand, Pakistan needed 29 off the final 12 balls when Faheem Ashraf emerged as the hero, smashing 24 runs in the 19th over. With just five runs needed in the final over, Ashraf struck a boundary to seal the win with one ball remaining.

The match, seemingly in the Netherlands' grasp, slipped away after a crucial mistake from Max O'Dowd. On the first delivery of the 19th over from Logan van Beek, Faheem launched a six. On the next ball, he mishit a shot that should have been a straightforward catch-but O'Dowd failed to hold on, giving Faheem a lifeline. What followed was disastrous for the Netherlands, as Faheem went on to hit two more sixes and a boundary in the same over, turning the match on its head.

Following the defeat, several Indian fans targeted O'Dowd's Instagram account, flooding his comments section with abusive messages. The Netherlands opener faced heavy trolling for the dropped catch that proved costly for his team.

Reacting to the loss, Netherlands captain Scott Edwards expressed his disappointment, calling cricket a "cruel game."

"We probably felt that 160 would've given us a fair chance. We were a little short and needed to bowl well to stay in the game. A couple of good spells from Roelof (van der Merwe) and Pauly (van Meekeren) brought us right back. I think it was a pretty good wicket," Edwards said.

"Pakistan had brought it down to a run-a-ball at one stage, and Pauly bowled a brilliant over-maybe even a double-wicket maiden-to push the run rate up. The boys built good momentum. But sometimes, cricket can be a cruel game," he added.

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan Cricket Team Netherlands Faheem Ashraf Max O'Dowd Agha Salman T20 World Cup 2026 Cricket