Sikander Zulfiqar and Boris Gorlee guide The Netherlands A past Gibraltar and Portugal

In the morning, Gibraltar was on the fixtures list. Sikander Zulfiqar played a fantastic innings: 78 off only 26 balls including seven fours and seven sixes. For Gibraltar, Bodha took 2-12. Thanks to 27 runs from Fitzgerald (4x6), Gibraltar managed 85 runs against the 142 of the Netherlands A. Saqib Zulfiqar took 2-22.

Portugal

Later on the day, a combative Portugal opted for batting first. It wanted to set an unachievable target. They made their best score to date: 132 runs in the available ten overs, with Gholiya (45) and Shahzad (38) as top scorers. Sebastiaan Braat (2-21) excelled – not for the first time – with the ball.

Asad Zulfiqar (21) and Tim Etman gave the Netherlands a quickfire start, but when Etman (24) was dismissed, Netherlands A was on 84/2/6 and 49 runs still had to be made in the last four overs. Boris Gorlee, however, was timing the ball incredibly well, putting together a gem of an innings. Assisted by Aryan Dutt (14 not out off five balls), Gorlee mapped the target of 133 runs in record time. Over number seven from Greenshields went for 26 runs, Gorlee showing that he mastered some variants of the ramp shot perfectly. He was unbeaten on 71 (out of 23 balls) with 6x6 and 7x4. The most economical Portuguese bowler went for thirteen runs per over. Tim Etman must have been surprised that he was the slowest batsman with a strike rate of 184.

Gibraltar

In the last match against Gibraltar, The Netherlands A no longer seemed to take it all 100% seriously. Part-timers Gorlee, Verhagen (1-11!) and Etman had a bowl instead of usual bowlers like Sebastiaan Braat and Clayton Floyd. Louis Bruce profited; thanks in particular to this 17-year-old allrounder (65 off 29 balls), Gibraltar reached 120 runs. Mees van Vliet took two wickets.

Who thought that Netherlands A would quickly chase that... was ultimately proved right. Unlike the bowling line-up, the batting line-up was not modified dangerously. Clayton Floyd (34 off 12) and Roel Verhagen (22) raced to 52/1 in three and a half overs. Saqib Zulfiqar (23 off six balls) couldn't finish the job, but Rata Alphonse (17 off seven balls) and Aryan Dutt (14 off three) did.

Full points for Netherlands A with six wins. It is a pity that there was not a bit more opposition in this attractive format that is organised by the European Cricket Network.

With the win over Gibraltar, Nederland A finished comfortably as the best of the three participating countries. A wonderful warm-up outing for the selected players, in which batsmen could practice their full arsenal of strokes and bowlers all their variations during an event that demonstrates the potential and attractiveness of T10 cricket. Hopefully, ECN founder Daniel Weston will continue to do so for a long time.

Sebastiaan Braat was named player of the tournament; not only for his excellent bowling, but also for his leadership, commentator and speaker 'Mr Maximo' explained at the award ceremony.

Photo credit: europeancricket/diana oros