It just happened, I was on a kind of roll: Netherlands' Logan van Beek recalls historic Super Over against West Indies in CWC Qualifiers
Aug 23, 2023
New Delhi [India], August 23 : Any history of Netherlands cricket will have to document the 30-run over of Jason Holder- one over, which Logan Van Beek can never ever forget. two crucial points and it pushed the Netherlands into the World Cup 2023 on Indian soil while pushing the West Indies out of it.
"It does seem surreal because you do not normally do that sort of thing. When I was asked to go in and Max (Max O'Dowd) picked a single, I just said to myself here you go, this is your chance. You are warm, you have the confidence so just go for it. But as I said at no point did I think it could be a 30 run over. It just happened and I was on some kind of a roll," said Logan Van Beek while remembering this match on Backstage With Boria on RevSportz.
During the ICC CWC qualifiers 2023 in Zimbabwe during June, the Netherlands pulled off one of the biggest upsets in cricket history. Put to chase 375 set by West Indies after half-centuries from Brandon King (76), Johnson Charles (54) and a century from Nicholas Pooran (104), the Dutch side managed to tie the match, with Teja Nidamanuru (111) and skipper Scott Edwards (67) leading a spirited batting effort.
Coming to the Super Over, van Beek, already having smashed a quickfire 28 off 14 balls in the run-chase and taken a wicket, made his mark by smashing Holder for three fours and three sixes, a total of 30 runs, the most in a Super Over ever. This target proved to be too much for the Windies and lost the match, which caused the two-time world champions and once powerhouses of the game to miss out on a 50-over World Cup for the first time.
Speaking on the campaign Van Beek said, "Let me take you back some weeks and to what our fantastic coach Ryan Cook had said to us. He gave us a theme for this tournament and that was 'Row the Boat'. He said to each of us to get to the canals in Amsterdam and row our boats. We did as we were told and each one was rowing a boat. At that time we had no idea why we were asked to do it. But Ryan had asked us to do so in unison because it was his way of building a team culture and helping in team bonding."
"Once the exercise was done we were all told to bring our oars to our change room with a word written on one side. And then when 23 oars had all assembled together we were individually asked to read out our words and why we thought that word was important for the team and how it could help the team. It was just the most fantastic way of coming together as a team. And in all my years in the sport, I have never encountered a better change room. We were all playing for each other, living a collective dream together and determined to leave a mark together. While a couple of guys who have been regulars in the Dutch team were missing, we were at no point any less confident. It was evidence what team culture can do to a team if done well. We were actually silently confident of doing it. While from the outside it might appear a kind of underdog story, within the team we knew that we were capable of doing it and making it to India," he added.
Speaking on what the World Cup means to him as a player, he said. "It is the ultimate cricketing experience that I as a player can ever dream of. I always wanted to play a 50-over World Cup and there can be nothing better than playing in India in front of passionate Indian fans. I was born in New Zealand and felt I could play in the 2015 World Cup, which was held in New Zealand. But it was not to be. Then I felt I could play the 2019 World Cup. But that too rolled on. And now here I am part of the 2023 World Cup in India. We are all excited. We will do everything possible to do our best. It is time we take our oars to India to boat around India. As a team, as a collective, we will back each other to the fullest to ensure that our boats are at their best in India during the World Cup."
Finally, when asked about the facilities in the Netherlands, his answer was startling. "In Holland, there are 3 contracted cricketers. And 2 turf wickets. Some of the boys have full-time jobs. Half of them do not have contracts and two players have just finished school. Most of the facilities are artificial matting wickets. Only in Amsterdam and Rotterdam do we have turf wickets which we trained on. But then with Ryan Cook, there was a sense of purpose. A kind of discipline we have never seen before. He uses all he has learnt from Gary Kirsten and the other coaches and has moulded us into a very good unit. There is clear communication between captain and coach and captain and players and each one of us know what we need to do. Every meeting is purposeful and that’s why we have been able to do what we have."
