Cooper, Braat star in Dutch Pro Series’ first week

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	–	–

You’re reading Emerging Cricket — brought to you by a passionate group of volunteers with a vision for cricket to be a truly global sport, and a mission to inspire passion to grow the game.

Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, please subscribe for regular updates, and follow EC on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Don’t know where to start? Check out our features list, country profiles, and subscribe to our podcast.

Support us from US$2 a month — and get exclusive benefits, by becoming an EC Patron.