'We should have potentially sent Pakistan home after today' - van Meekeren rues Netherlands' close loss

"I want to be very clear Pakistan didn't win the game today, we lost the game against ourself."

Paul Van Meekeren didn't mince his words. But this was not a slight against Pakistan - this was probably as honest an assessment that Van Meekeren could have offered after Netherlands lost the T20 World Cup opener in Colombo.

"We were the better team today, especially in the bowling department. We deserved to win that game and we should have potentially sent Pakistan home after today, so yeah it's a shame but it is what it is."

Netherlands found themselves in positions of strength throughout the game. The first was at the end of a solid powerplay - 50 for 2 - and then after 15 overs - 123 for 4 with Scott Edwards settled at the wicket. Here they would have been targeting potentially 170, but the loss of three wickets in five deliveries put paid to those ambitions as they eventually limped to 147.

The second and more pivotal moment came in the penultimate over of the game. The maws of victory were stretched, ready at a moment's notice to snap shut; Pakistan had been suffered an almighty collapse, with van Meekeren at the heart of it.

He ended with figures of 2 for 20, but both those wickets came within a potentially game-changing second over. Roelof van der Merwe slid across the SSC outfield to spectacularly remove the high-flying Sahibzada Farhan, and then two deliveries later Usman Khan chopped on. A door cracked open.

Then, suddenly, ripped off the hinges. Babar Azam holed out the next over, the next few overs after the runs dried up as a pained innings from Mohammed Nawaz came to an end. And then, the start of the next over - the very next ball - Shadab Khan was strangled down leg.

"I'm very proud of the guys, I think we probably didn't get the runs on the board that we wanted, but to fight back after a strong start from Pakistan with the bat it shows how the culture that we've created in the team and the never say die attitude."

With the game now theirs to lose, the equation had become weighted heavily in Netherlands favour, 23 off 11 immediately after a Faheem Ashraf six. And then the next ball, the moment arrived. A skier from the last recognised batter. In another universe, Max O'Dowd holds on, and Pakistan fade away. But in this one, it's Netherlands that blinked at yet another clutch moment.

"Tough to say," Van Meekeren said when asked why his side had stumbled at two key moments in the game. "I think the one thing I have to give Pakistan credit for is taking the game deep. I mean we should have probably done it with the bat maybe, taking the innings a little bit deeper because you can see what you can do if you got a batsman who's in - in the last two overs and be able to take a bit more risk.

"But I think the conditions were very nice for us to bowl to and there was a lot of pressure on Pakistan in those last few overs and we just probably didn't execute the way we wanted to and these World Cup moments - it's small margins. Sometimes one ball, but it's just a very disappointing feeling at the moment."

Netherlands however don't have much time to ponder this defeat. They fly out on Sunday to India, before their next game on February 10. Van Meekeren is keen to take away as many positives as possible.

"We're very a close team so obviously there are a few guys who are actually really disappointed in the changing room, but we stand behind them, we back them all the way for the next game to turn it around - they don't even need to turn it around, just to be the best they can be and win the next game for us against Namibia."