If this was a match which showed up many of the limitations of Associates’ cricket, it also featured a finale which would have graced any contest, and the Dutch one-wicket victory, which gave them the tri-series title and which seemed deeply improbable a few overs from the end, confirmed that they have been the best all-round team this week.

Canada and The Netherlands went into this encounter level on points, although the Canadians were aware that they had played a game more and had an inferior nett run rate to that of their opponents.

The Dutch, equally, knew that a win in this match would ensure that they finished top of the table, while Canada would need to go all out for the bonus point that would put all the pressure on The Netherlands in their encounter on Saturday with winless Bermuda.

Perhaps with this partly in mind, and after a good hard look at the state of the pitch, Luuk van Troost elected to bowl first on winning the toss.

Mark Jonkman secured an early breakthrough when he had Ashif Mulla caught behind with the total on 17, but Abdool Samad and Ashish Bagai then put on 52 for the second wicket, batting sensibly against Jonkman and ten Doeschate.

It was Tim de Leede who broke the partnership, inducing Bagai to edge a good ball to van Bunge at slip, and de Leede again contributed a fine spell, also trapping Qaiser Alli leg before to finish with two for 29 from his ten overs.

Samad made 44 before Billy Stelling had him l.b.w., and Desmond Chumney made the same score, departing when he fell victim to a quick reaction from ten Doeschate off his own bowling. Chumney’s running between the wickets had been adventurous to say the least, and as he played the ball out on the on side and looked for another single, ten Doeschate followed through, collected the ball and threw the wicket down.

That made it 107 for four, and with Jonkman now back into the attack, bowling with considerable aggression and dismissing Sunil Dhaniram two runs later, Canada were 190 for five with eighteen overs remaining.

That they were able to set a decent target was due to an enterprising sixth-wicket stand between George Codrington and Don Maxwell, who put on 58 in just over ten overs, lifting the run rate and getting their side within sight of 200. Codrington was eventually bowled by ten Doeschate for 31, made from 40 balls, but Maxwell continued to the end, finishing with 37 not out from just 27 balls.

The later stages of the Canadian innings were punctuated with rolls of thunder and frequent flashes of lightning, and the players had scarcely left the field before the storm set in in earnest. There was, happily, relatively little rain involved, and only eight overs were lost before the Dutch innings could start.

That meant a revised target of 205 from 42 overs, which did not seem like a huge ask from the Dutch point of view.

Umar Bhatti and Henry Osinde, however, again proved what a fine opening attack they give Canada, allowing only 18 runs off the first ten overs for the loss of Maurits van Nierop’s wicket, caught by Codrington off Osinde.

Bhatti was again particularly lively and accurate, and when Osinde had de Grooth caught off the top edge by Samad at cover, trying to force the pace, he had made only 9 from 40 balls.

Van Troost shifted himself up the order to raise the tempo, announcing his arrival with a magnificent six off Bhatti. Ten Doeschate, too, was showing more aggression, and he hit a succession of fine boundaries in going to 38 off 40 balls before trying to hit Bhatti once too often and also skying the ball to Samad.

Bas Zuiderent fell first ball later in the same over (70 for four), but van Troost and Daan van Bunge added 50 in ten overs as the Canadian spinners came in for some initial punishment.

But when van Troost, on 34, holed out to Osinde at long on off Dhaniram’s bowling it was the cue for a mini-collapse, 120 for four becoming 142 for seven as de Leede was run out and Borren was trapped leg before by Dhaniram.

The Dutch batsmen were showing an alarming capacity for self-destruction, and the situation deteriorated further when van Bunge, shortly after completing his half-century, hit another lofted drive to Umar Bhatti off Sandher’s bowling. Smits soon followed, and The Netherlands were 178 for nine, 27 still needed with less than five overs left.

Mark Jonkman now joined Billy Stelling, who had been playing sensibly at the other end. A succession of singles reduced the gap, and 15 were needed off the last twelve balls.

Codrington was to bowl the penultimate over, and Stelling swung his first ball backward of square for a six that transformed the game: 9 were now needed from 11 balls. Five more runs came off the rest of the over, and that meant 4 from the last with Stelling facing Osinde.

The first three balls produced no run, but Stelling drove the fourth through cover point to pull off an extraordinary win, earning himself the Man of the Match award in the process.

This was, in truth, a game that The Netherlands seemed to have thrown away, but in the end their depth in batting was just too much for the Canadian attack.

One of the features of this series has been the inability of batsmen to keep going when set: after five games, the highest individual score is 65. It’s an issue the coaches will no doubt be addressing before the World Cricket League begins in January.