Netherlands and Ireland to host Pakistan for limited overs series

Pakistan Cricket team will tour Netherlands and Ireland ahead of its tour to England next year to play series of limited over matches.

A Pakistan Cricket Board official confirmed that Pakistan will play three ODIs against Netherlands and two T20Is against Ireland in July next year in the lead up to their England tour in 2020.

“The VRA Cricket Club in Amstelveen will host the three ODIs on July 4, 7 and 9, while the two T20Is in Ireland will be played on July 12 and 14,” a statement by PCB said.

The series between the Netherlands and Pakistan will be the first-ever between the two sides, though they have previously met thrice in ICC events.

During the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996 and 2003, Pakistan won by eight wickets and 97 runs in Lahore and Paarl, respectively, while in Colombo in the ICC Champions Trophy 2002, Pakistan won by nine wickets.

The two T20Is between Ireland and Pakistan will be the first instance of the two teams playing each other in the shorter format in Ireland.

Pakistan, to date, have played six ODIs and a Test – Ireland’s first appearance in the format – in Ireland.

After the tour of Netherlands and Ireland, Pakistan will travel to England where they will play three World Test Championship Tests, July 30 to August 20 before taking on the 50-over world champions in three T20Is on August 29 and 31 and September 2.

Ireland and Pakistan have previously featured in just one T20I, with Pakistan winning The Oval fixture by 39 runs on way to lifting the ICC T20 World Cup in England in 2009.