'We Should Have Potentially Sent Pakistan Home’ - Van Meekeren Laments Missed Chance After Close Defeat

Dutch pace bowler Paul Van Meekeren expressed his disappointment after Pakistan defeated Netherlands in the ICC T20 World Cup opener, saying that the team had a great opportunity to win the match and stage an upset. Interestingly, he believes Netherlands were the better team today as they played more convincing cricket than Pakistan.

"I want to be very clear Pakistan didn't win the game today, we lost the game against our self.” said Paul Van Meekeren.

"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." added Paul Van Meekeren.

He then said that the effort of the Netherlands was remarkable, as everyone fought back strongly in the second innings to put consistent pressure on Pakistan.

"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." said Paul Van Meekeren.

The Dutch pacer then gave credit to Pakistan for taking the game deep. He said Netherlands should have also batted the same way in the first innings, as it might have helped them score a few extra runs.

"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.” said Paul Van Meekeren