Tom Cooper’s first effort stood out for its maturity as he made an unbeaten 80 to guide Netherlands to a six-wicket win with three balls to spare over Scotland at Hazelaarweg in Rotterdam
Cricinfo staff15-Jun-2010
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In a game in which five players made their one-day international debuts, Tom Cooper’s first effort stood out for its maturity as he made an unbeaten 80 to guide Netherlands to a six-wicket win with three balls to spare over Scotland at Hazelaarweg in Rotterdam. He put on 158 for the third wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate, who missed out on a fourth one-day international hundred but did enough in his 101-ball 90 to secure the win after Richie Berrington’s 84 had helped Scotland set 235 for 6.Cooper, who was born in Wollongong and represented Australia Under-19s, came to the crease as early as the sixth over when opener Eric Szwarczynski fell to Matthew Parker – another player making his ODI debut. ten Doeschate, who is regarded as one of the finest allrounders in Associate cricket, joined him in the 14th over with the match in the balance after Alexei Kervezee’s dismissal saw his side slip to 50 for 2. Both batsmen started their innings very cautiously before gradually beginning to play with more fluency and taking control of the game.While Cooper was content to anchor the innings, ten Doeschate opened up after reaching his half-century and struck five fours and two sixes before he was dismissed with the win, and his century, in sight in the 45th over. Netherlands still needed to score at a-run-a-ball when he left the crease, but they still had seven wickets in hand and despite Bas Zuiderent’s departure in the penultimate over they were always cruising. Cooper was named Man-of-the-Match for his innings.Richie Berrington’s well-paced innings appeared to have set a competitive total as he steadied Scotland’s middle order in a see-sawing first innings. Josh Davey and Preston Mommsen, also debutants, put on a steady 43 but then fell within three overs of each other as Scotland slipped to 55 for 2. Berrington and Gregor Maiden, who struck a breezy 31, seized back the initiative with a 47-run stand in under nine overs before offspinner Adeel Raja struck back with the wickets of Maiden and Qasim Sheikh in the midst of an economical five-over spell.With Sheikh’s dismissal, Scotland were 131 for 4 and struggled to build momentum before Neil McCallum was pinned in front of his stumps for 11 by Mudassar Bukhari to reduce the visitors to a shaky 155 for 5 in the 38th over.But Berrington found an able partner in Douglas Lockhart, putting together a 71-run stand – the highest of the innings – to stretch Scotland’s score past 200. Though Berrington fell to ten Doeschate in the closing overs, Lockhart remained unbeaten on 31 at the close and Parker found the boundary in the final over to boost the total. Raja and ten Doeschate were the pick of the Dutch bowling attack with two dismissals apiece, taking wickets at crucial times to finish with combined figures of 4 for 54 from 15 overs.