Muhammad Rizwan made 68 as Pakistan beat the Netherlands to get off to a winning start at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup ©Getty Images

Pakistan made a winning start at the International Cricket Council Men’s Cricket World Cup, winning the tournament’s second match by defeating the Netherlands by 81 runs at Hyderabad in India.

After being put in to bat at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Pakistan lost three wickets inside the first ten-over powerplay.

Wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel put on 120 runs for the fourth wicket, adopting an aggressive approach to get Pakistan back on track.

Both Rizwan and Shakeel scored 68 runs each, with Shakeel’s innings coming off 52 balls.

A 68-run partnership between Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan gave late momentum to Pakistan’s innings, before it was ended after Nawaz was run out by a direct hit from Colin Ackermann.

Pakistan were bowled out for 286 with one over unused.

Netherlands made a strong start to their chase with opener Vikram Singh making 52 and Bas de Leede 67.  

The pair’s 70-run partnership was broken up when Singh was caught in the deep off the bowling of Shadab.

The Dutch then lost five wickets for 44 runs inside a ten-over spell which swung the game decisively Pakistan’s way.

Logan van Beek made a run a ball 28 with some late blows but ran out of partners as the Dutch were bowled out for 205 off 41 overs.

Two matches are scheduled to take place tomorrow on the third day of the tournament, with Bangladesh up against Afghanistan in a day game in Dharamsala, before South Africa face Sri Lanka in a day/night match in Delhi.