Back when I was taking part in my school’s cross-country running programme, sixty years ago, the master in charge used to claim that his goal in setting the handicaps was to ensure that the entire field crossed the line simultaneously.
It never worked out like that, of course, but you could see what he meant; and Dutch national coach Ryan Campbell has a similar task in selecting the teams for the current Pro Series, to balance the sides to make the matches as competitive as possible and give everyone a chance to strut their stuff in demanding match situations.
On the evidence of this week’s three games, allowing for the youth and relative inexperience of many of those involved, he’s done a pretty good job.
The 50-over series is level at one apiece after Wednesday’s match ended in a remarkably narrow victory for the Seafarers, and Thursday’s T20 game went down to the final over before the Hurricanes completed a 7-wicket win.
It’s been a good deal closer than might have been feared halfway through the Seafarers’ innings on Tuesday, when after winning the toss and electing to bat, they had been reduced to 88 for six.
But then Hidde Overdijk (54) and Sebastiaan Braat (41) shared a seventh-wicket stand of 56, and the Seafarers managed to battle their way to 184 before they were all out, Bas de Leede finishing with four for 20 for the Hurricanes.
It did not seem likely to be enough, and when Vikram Singh and Lucas del Bianco set the Hurricanes on their way with an opening stand of 69 the outcome seemed beyond doubt.
Bianco top-scored with 41, but the bowlers chipped away, and it was left to Clayton Floyd and Shariz Ahmad to complete the five-wicket victory with six and a half overs to spare.
If the opening match had been a fairly flat affair, the teams warmed to their task on Wednesday.
The Seafarers, again winning the toss, did much better this time, despite Musa Ahmad being dismissed by Julian de Mey off the first ball of the match.
They reached 249 for seven, thanks to Saqib Zulfiqar’s 53, smaller contributions from a comparatively-restrained Tobias Visée, Overdijk and Shirase Rasool, and a splendid, unbroken eighth-wicket stand between Braat (62 not out) and Pierre Jacod (29 not out).
The Hurricanes seemed on course for another win when Singh and Ben Cooper put on 131 for the second wicket in 25 overs, but the tempo slowed a little after Singh was run out for 55, and although De Leede chipped in with 27 and Cooper proceeded magisterially to his century, seven were still needed when Braat began the final over.
On a day when he could seemingly do no wrong he confined the scoring to a bye and a single, taking two wickets into the bargain, and the Hurricanes closed on 244 for six, giving the Seafarers a notable 5-run victory.
Cooper was out in the 48th over for 119, made from 122 deliveries with 12 boundaries, and Braat finished with three for 40, including the wicket of the centurion.
On Thursday Cooper took up where he had left off the day before, but this time in T20 mode, and this time he was on the winning side.
Once again winning the toss, the Seafarers began brightly, Adam Wiffen (60 from 50 balls) and Visée (45 from 31) putting on 90 in 11.2 overs for the first wicket.
But then the side fell apart, and with Floyd taking four for 26 and Viv Kingma and Paul van Meekeren collecting a couple of wickets apiece they were all out for 148.
The Hurricanes were briefly in trouble at 10 for two with De Leede and Singh both gone, but Cooper and Tim de Kok restored order with a third-wicket stand of 86 in 10.4 overs. De Kok made 38 from 35 deliveries, and in company with Aryan Dutt (24 from 23 balls) Cooper made sure of the win, his unbeaten 64 coming from 46 deliveries and including three fours and two sixes.
The sides will engage again with three more matches next week, with two more to complete the series the week after that.
Scorecards:
Match One: Hurricanes Vs Seafarers
1-Innings Match Played At Amstelveen, 11-Aug-2020, North Sea Pro Series 50-over
Hurricanes Win by 5 wkts
| Round | 1 |
| Toss won by | Seafarers |
| Umpires | D Das – ML Hancock |
| Scorer notes | K Holdsworth and CCM Kaulingfreks |
| Home Side | Hurricanes |
| Points Awarded | Seafarers 0, Hurricanes 4 |
Seafarers 1st Innings 184/10 All Out (Overs 48)
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| MN Ahmad | lbw | b VJ Kingma | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| AJ Staal* | c C Floyd | b BFW de Leede | 20 | 36 | 3 | 0 |
| AO Wiffen | lbw | b VJ Kingma | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| SR Rasool | c V Singh | b BFW de Leede | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| TP Visée+ | c BN Cooper | b OM Elenbaas | 17 | 26 | 1 | 0 |
| HC Overdijk | c BN Cooper | b S Ahmad | 54 | 85 | 5 | 0 |
| P Jacod | lbw | b C Floyd | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| TS Braat | c BN Cooper | b BFW de Leede | 41 | 79 | 1 | 1 |
| PRP Boissevain | run out | 13 | 13 | 1 | 0 | |
| MB Hoornweg | not out | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| K Nana | c L del Bianco | b BFW de Leede | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| extras | (b0 lb4 w22 nb0) | 26 | ||||
| TOTAL | 10 wickets for | 184 |
| FOW |
| 1-18(MN Ahmad) 2-20(AO Wiffen) 3-30(SR Rasool) 4-43(AJ Staal) 5-69(TP Visée) |
| 6-88(P Jacod) 7-144(HC Overdijk) 8-171(PRP Boissevain) 9-182(TS Braat) |
| 10-184(K Nana) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
| VJ Kingma | 8 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 5 | – |
| PA van Meekeren | 9 | 2 | 41 | 0 | 4 | – |
| BFW de Leede | 4 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 2 | – |
| JI de Mey | 10 | 1 | 23 | 0 | – | – |
| OM Elenbaas | 5 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 1 | – |
| C Floyd | 8 | 0 | 35 | 1 | – | – |
| S Ahmad | 4 | 0 | 21 | 1 | – | – |
Hurricanes 1st Innings 185/5 (Overs 43.3)
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| V Singh | b PRP Boissevain | 25 | 35 | 2 | 0 | |
| L del Bianco+ | b MN Ahmad | 41 | 118 | 2 | 0 | |
| BN Cooper | b TS Braat | 23 | 28 | 3 | 0 | |
| BFW de Leede* | c AO Wiffen | b PRP Boissevain | 13 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| A Dutt | c AJ Staal | b SR Rasool | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| C Floyd | not out | 38 | 40 | 3 | 0 | |
| S Ahmad | not out | 11 | 20 | 1 | 0 | |
| OM Elenbaas | dnb | |||||
| VJ Kingma | dnb | |||||
| JI de Mey | dnb | |||||
| PA van Meekeren | dnb | |||||
| extras | (b0 lb6 w26 nb1) | 33 | ||||
| TOTAL | 5 wickets for | 185 |
| FOW |
| 1-69(V Singh) 2-110(BN Cooper) 3-126(BFW de Leede) 4-128(A Dutt) |
| 5-144(L del Bianco) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
| HC Overdijk | 6 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 2 | – |
| K Nana | 3 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| TS Braat | 7 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 5 | – |
| P Jacod | 9 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 1 | – |
| MB Hoornweg | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 4 | – |
| PRP Boissevain | 9 | 0 | 34 | 2 | 1 | – |
| SR Rasool | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | – | – |
| MN Ahmad | 4.3 | 0 | 18 | 1 | – | – |
Match Two: Hurricanes Vs Seafarers
1-Innings Match Played At Amstelveen, 12-Aug-2020, North Sea Pro Series 50-over
Seafarers Win by 5 runs
| Round | 2 |
| Toss won by | Seafarers |
| Umpires | RJ Akram – N Bathi |
| Scorer notes | K Holdsworth and K Pattiselanno |
| Home Side | Hurricanes |
| Points Awarded | Seafarers 4, Hurricanes 0 |
Seafarers 1st Innings 249/7 Closed (Overs 50)
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| MN Ahmad | c V Singh | b JI de Mey | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TP Visée+ | c BFW de Leede | b C Floyd | 25 | 33 | 3 | 0 |
| AO Wiffen | lbw | b VJ Kingma | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| SM Zulfiqar | c L del Bianco | b VJ Kingma | 53 | 75 | 5 | 0 |
| AJ Staal* | c&b RWA van Troost | 5 | 17 | 1 | 0 | |
| HC Overdijk | c L del Bianco | b JI de Mey | 25 | 34 | 3 | 0 |
| SR Rasool | st L del Bianco | b C Floyd | 23 | 28 | 1 | 0 |
| TS Braat | not out | 62 | 67 | 5 | 0 | |
| P Jacod | not out | 29 | 39 | 0 | 0 | |
| PRP Boissevain | dnb | |||||
| K Nana | dnb | |||||
| extras | (b2 lb4 w20 nb0) | 26 | ||||
| TOTAL | 7 wickets for | 249 |
| FOW |
| 1-0(MN Ahmad) 2-2(AO Wiffen) 3-46(TP Visée) 4-69(AJ Staal) 5-122(SM Zulfiqar) |
| 6-130(HC Overdijk) 7-170(SR Rasool) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
| JI de Mey | 10 | 0 | 43 | 2 | 1 | – |
| VJ Kingma | 10 | 4 | 35 | 2 | 4 | – |
| PA van Meekeren | 10 | 1 | 62 | 0 | 4 | – |
| C Floyd | 9 | 1 | 33 | 2 | – | – |
| RWA van Troost | 2 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 4 | – |
| S Ahmad | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | – | – |
| OM Elenbaas | 6 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 3 | – |
Hurricanes 1st Innings 244/6 Closed (Overs 50)
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| V Singh* | run out | 55 | 102 | 4 | 0 | |
| S Ahmad | c HC Overdijk | b P Jacod | 15 | 13 | 3 | 0 |
| BN Cooper | c SR Rasool | b TS Braat | 119 | 123 | 12 | 0 |
| BFW de Leede | c MN Ahmad | b HC Overdijk | 27 | 42 | 1 | 0 |
| A Dutt | c HC Overdijk | b TS Braat | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| C Floyd | not out | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| PA van Meekeren | c TP Visée | b TS Braat | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| VJ Kingma | dnb | |||||
| OM Elenbaas | dnb | |||||
| RWA van Troost | dnb | |||||
| JI de Mey | dnb | |||||
| extras | (b1 lb4 w9 nb0) | 14 | ||||
| TOTAL | 6 wickets for | 244 |
| FOW |
| 1-29(S Ahmad) 2-160(V Singh) 3-216(BFW de Leede) 4-233(BN Cooper) 5-243(A Dutt) |
| 6-244(PA van Meekeren) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
| P Jacod | 5 | 0 | 27 | 1 | – | – |
| HC Overdijk | 10 | 1 | 40 | 1 | 2 | – |
| TS Braat | 8 | 0 | 40 | 3 | – | – |
| K Nana | 4 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 2 | – |
| MB Hoornweg | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 3 | – |
| PRP Boissevain | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 2 | – |
| SM Zulfiqar | 10 | 0 | 40 | 0 | – | – |
| SR Rasool | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | – | – |
| MN Ahmad | 6 | 0 | 19 | 0 | – | – |
Match Three: Hurricanes Vs Seafarers
1-Innings T20 Match Played At Amstelveen, 13-Aug-2020, North Sea Pro Series T20
Hurricanes Win by 7 wkts
| Round | 3 |
| Toss won by | Seafarers |
| Umpires | N Bathi – M Prabhudesai |
| Scorer notes | K Holdsworth and K Pattiselanno |
| Home Side | Hurricanes |
| Points Awarded | Seafarers 0, Hurricanes 4 |
Seafarers 1st Innings 148/10 All Out (Overs 20)
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| AO Wiffen | b C Floyd | 60 | 50 | 7 | 0 | |
| TP Visée+ | c BN Cooper | b C Floyd | 45 | 31 | 2 | 2 |
| SR Rasool | lbw | b C Floyd | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| BHG Gorlee | c TIM de Kok | b C Floyd | 11 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| AJ Staal* | c PA van Meekeren | b VJ Kingma | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| TS Braat | c TIM de Kok | b VJ Kingma | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| HC Overdijk | c V Singh | b PA van Meekeren | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| P Jacod | c TIM de Kok | b PA van Meekeren | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| A Jain | run out | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| K Nana | run out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| PRP Boissevain | not out | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| extras | (b0 lb3 w9 nb0) | 12 | ||||
| TOTAL | 10 wickets for | 148 |
| FOW |
| 1-90(TP Visée) 2-90(SR Rasool) 3-111(BHG Gorlee) 4-135(AO Wiffen) 5-135(AJ Staal) |
| 6-137(TS Braat) 7-142(HC Overdijk) 8-142(P Jacod) 9-145(K Nana) 10-148(A Jain) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
| A Dutt | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | – | – |
| VJ Kingma | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 4 | – |
| PA van Meekeren | 4 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 1 | – |
| BFW de Leede | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| JI de Mey | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 1 | – |
| RWA van Troost | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 3 | – |
| C Floyd | 4 | 0 | 26 | 4 | – | – |
| OM Elenbaas | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | – |
Hurricanes 1st Innings 149/3 (Overs 19.4)
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Bls | 4s | 6s |
| V Singh* | c AJ Staal | b K Nana | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| BFW de Leede | run out | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| BN Cooper | not out | 64 | 46 | 4 | 2 | |
| TIM de Kok+ | c PRP Boissevain | b P Jacod | 38 | 35 | 2 | 1 |
| A Dutt | not out | 24 | 23 | 1 | 0 | |
| C Floyd | dnb | |||||
| OM Elenbaas | dnb | |||||
| PA van Meekeren | dnb | |||||
| RWA van Troost | dnb | |||||
| JI de Mey | dnb | |||||
| VJ Kingma | dnb | |||||
| extras | (b1 lb3 w10 nb0) | 14 | ||||
| TOTAL | 3 wickets for | 149 |
| FOW |
| 1-9(BFW de Leede) 2-10(V Singh) 3-96(TIM de Kok) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
| P Jacod | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | – | – |
| HC Overdijk | 4 | 0 | 23 | 0 | – | – |
| K Nana | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – |
| A Jain | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 1 | – |
| TS Braat | 3.4 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 3 | – |
| MB Hoornweg | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 5 | – |
| PRP Boissevain | 4 | 0 | 31 | 0 | – | – |
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