The Netherlands may have been without any of their England based players but they still gave an almighty scare to the touring Pakistan side in the first of three Super League ODIs in Rottterdam today.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first, with Fakhar Zaman scoring 109 at exactly a run per ball before he was run out in the 37th over. He put on 168 for the second wicket with captain Babar Azam, who scored 75 himself.

Shadab Khan hit 48 from just 28 balls as Pakistan scored 102 from the last 11 overs of their innings, reaching 314-6 by the end of their innings.

Vikramjit Singh dominated the early part of the Dutch run chase before he was joined at the fall of the third wicket by Tom Cooper. The pair put on 97 with Cooper contributing 65 of those runs before he fell in the 31st over.

Singh followed two overs later having scored 65, before captain Scott Edwards took charge for the final overs. Joined by Logan van Beek in the 41st over, the pair took the total from 222-6 to 280 before van Beek fell from the last ball of the 48th over.

With 34 needed, the equation became tougher when Tom Pringle fell from the very next delivery. Edwards tried his best, finishing unbeaten on 71 from 65 balls as the home side scored 298-8, losing by 16 runs.

With the Dutch left, not for the first time this summer, wondering how they would have done with a full strength side, they have a day’s rest tomorrow before the series continues on Thursday.