Holland v Pakistan

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