Cooper, Braat star in Dutch Pro Series’ first week

Ben Cooper
Ben Cooper (Photo: ICC)

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.

T20WCQ: 'We bring pace to the game' – Ryan Campbell
Ryan Campbell during T20WCQ (ICC)

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.

Vikram Singh continues to impress (Photo: KNCB)

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.

Ben Cooper
Ben Cooper scored 23, 119 and 64* for the Hurricanes (Photo: ICC)

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

Round1
Toss won bySeafarers
UmpiresD Das – ML Hancock
Scorer notesK Holdsworth and CCM Kaulingfreks
Home SideHurricanes
Points AwardedSeafarers 0, Hurricanes 4

Seafarers 1st Innings 184/10 All Out (Overs 48)

BatsmanFieldsmanBowlerRunsBls4s6s
MN Ahmadlbwb VJ Kingma21200
AJ Staal*c C Floydb BFW de Leede203630
AO Wiffenlbwb VJ Kingma2300
SR Rasoolc V Singhb BFW de Leede11400
TP Visée+c BN Cooperb OM Elenbaas172610
HC Overdijkc BN Cooperb S Ahmad548550
P Jacodlbwb C Floyd41400
TS Braatc BN Cooperb BFW de Leede417911
PRP Boissevainrun out 131310
MB Hoornwegnot out 3700
K Nanac L del Biancob BFW de Leede1300
extras (b0 lb4 w22 nb0)26   
TOTAL 10 wickets for184   
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)
BowlerOversMaidRunsWktswdnb
VJ Kingma802325
PA van Meekeren924104
BFW de Leede402042
JI de Mey101230
OM Elenbaas511711
C Floyd80351
S Ahmad40211

Hurricanes 1st Innings 185/5 (Overs 43.3)

BatsmanFieldsmanBowlerRunsBls4s6s
V Singh b PRP Boissevain253520
L del Bianco+ b MN Ahmad4111820
BN Cooper b TS Braat232830
BFW de Leede*c AO Wiffenb PRP Boissevain131420
A Duttc AJ Staalb SR Rasool1600
C Floydnot out 384030
S Ahmadnot out 112010
OM Elenbaasdnb     
VJ Kingmadnb     
JI de Meydnb     
PA van Meekerendnb     
extras (b0 lb6 w26 nb1)33   
TOTAL 5 wickets for185   
FOW
1-69(V Singh) 2-110(BN Cooper) 3-126(BFW de Leede) 4-128(A Dutt)
5-144(L del Bianco)
BowlerOversMaidRunsWktswdnb
HC Overdijk602902
K Nana3122021
TS Braat702715
P Jacod911401
MB Hoornweg202304
PRP Boissevain903421
SR Rasool30121
MN Ahmad4.30181

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

Round2
Toss won bySeafarers
UmpiresRJ Akram – N Bathi
Scorer notesK Holdsworth and K Pattiselanno
Home SideHurricanes
Points AwardedSeafarers 4, Hurricanes 0

Seafarers 1st Innings 249/7 Closed (Overs 50)

BatsmanFieldsmanBowlerRunsBls4s6s
MN Ahmadc V Singhb JI de Mey0100
TP Visée+c BFW de Leedeb C Floyd253330
AO Wiffenlbwb VJ Kingma1700
SM Zulfiqarc L del Biancob VJ Kingma537550
AJ Staal* c&b RWA van Troost51710
HC Overdijkc L del Biancob JI de Mey253430
SR Rasoolst L del Biancob C Floyd232810
TS Braatnot out 626750
P Jacodnot out 293900
PRP Boissevaindnb     
K Nanadnb     
extras (b2 lb4 w20 nb0)26   
TOTAL 7 wickets for249   
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)
BowlerOversMaidRunsWktswdnb
JI de Mey1004321
VJ Kingma1043524
PA van Meekeren1016204
C Floyd91332
RWA van Troost202014
S Ahmad30150
OM Elenbaas603503

Hurricanes 1st Innings 244/6 Closed (Overs 50)

BatsmanFieldsmanBowlerRunsBls4s6s
V Singh*run out 5510240
S Ahmadc HC Overdijkb P Jacod151330
BN Cooperc SR Rasoolb TS Braat119123120
BFW de Leedec MN Ahmadb HC Overdijk274210
A Duttc HC Overdijkb TS Braat81000
C Floydnot out 6900
PA van Meekerenc TP Viséeb TS Braat0100
VJ Kingmadnb     
OM Elenbaasdnb     
RWA van Troostdnb     
JI de Meydnb     
extras (b1 lb4 w9 nb0)14   
TOTAL 6 wickets for244   
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)
BowlerOversMaidRunsWktswdnb
P Jacod50271
HC Overdijk1014012
TS Braat80403
K Nana401302
MB Hoornweg201903
PRP Boissevain202302
SM Zulfiqar100400
SR Rasool30180
MN Ahmad60190

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

Round3
Toss won bySeafarers
UmpiresN Bathi – M Prabhudesai
Scorer notesK Holdsworth and K Pattiselanno
Home SideHurricanes
Points AwardedSeafarers 0, Hurricanes 4

Seafarers 1st Innings 148/10 All Out (Overs 20)

BatsmanFieldsmanBowlerRunsBls4s6s
AO Wiffen b C Floyd605070
TP Visée+c BN Cooperb C Floyd453122
SR Rasoollbwb C Floyd0200
BHG Gorleec TIM de Kokb C Floyd111210
AJ Staal*c PA van Meekerenb VJ Kingma9901
TS Braatc TIM de Kokb VJ Kingma2200
HC Overdijkc V Singhb PA van Meekeren1300
P Jacodc TIM de Kokb PA van Meekeren2400
A Jainrun out 3400
K Nanarun out 1100
PRP Boissevainnot out 2200
extras (b0 lb3 w9 nb0)12   
TOTAL 10 wickets for148   
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)
BowlerOversMaidRunsWktswdnb
A Dutt20130
VJ Kingma402524
PA van Meekeren402621
BFW de Leede1060
JI de Mey302301
RWA van Troost102003
C Floyd40264
OM Elenbaas1060

Hurricanes 1st Innings 149/3 (Overs 19.4)

BatsmanFieldsmanBowlerRunsBls4s6s
V Singh*c AJ Staalb K Nana7910
BFW de Leederun out 2400
BN Coopernot out 644642
TIM de Kok+c PRP Boissevainb P Jacod383521
A Duttnot out 242310
C Floyddnb     
OM Elenbaasdnb     
PA van Meekerendnb     
RWA van Troostdnb     
JI de Meydnb     
VJ Kingmadnb     
extras (b1 lb3 w10 nb0)14   
TOTAL 3 wickets for149   
FOW
1-9(BFW de Leede) 2-10(V Singh) 3-96(TIM de Kok)
BowlerOversMaidRunsWktswdnb
P Jacod20131
HC Overdijk40230
K Nana10511
A Jain301801
TS Braat3.404103
MB Hoornweg201405
PRP Boissevain40310

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