By a quirk of the schedule in this rain-disrupted competition, this Saturday’s matches pit the current top five sides against those in the lower half of the table, so most of the latter will need to produce a win if they are not to lose further ground on the pace-makers. But the forecast suggests that Messrs Duckworth, Lewis and Stern may get another workout, and we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that at least there will be five completed matches by the end of the day.
RL: HCC, admittedly, are really only in seventh spot because they’ve played just the one game, their first two fixtures having fallen victim to the weather, and they will be aiming to move up the table when they welcome HBS Craeyenhout to De Diepput. While their bowling was decidedly more impressive than their batting as they demolished Excelsior last week, there’s no doubt they have a well-balanced side, and the way in which young Teun Leijer has slotted into the attack is an encouraging sign for the rest of the season and beyond. But the Crows have shown great early form, with Tayo Walbrugh and Matt de Villiers among the runs, and this game will be a good guide to the true strength of both sides. Once again, it may be the big guns who make the difference: HCC’s trio of overseas played a relatively small part in last week’s victory, but if Conor McInerney and Jed Wiggins come off with the bat then they might just have the edge over an HBS side which battled to contain Voorburg’s batting last Saturday.
BdJ: Indeed given the disparity in games played the table’s far from a fair reflection of the real state of play, and HCC’s win percentage is still 100% from that one game. Nonetheless HBS have looked the better all-round outfit thus far despite their opening loss to Punjab. HCC can afford their local talent in Gorlee and Staal to have a lean period with the bat, or their overseas to have a fallow spell, but not both at once. HBS do look reliant on their hired muscle at the minute though, and may not be too upset at the prospect of an early Dutch exit at the World Cup if it sees Barresi and Klein back in black.
RL: There will be another such test at Westvliet, where Voorburg will take on a Hermes-DVS outfit still finding their wings in the top flight. The Schiedammers were untroubled in seeing off ACC last week thanks to Ralph Elenbaas’s destructive opening spell, and we can perhaps expect the brothers Elenbaas continuing to share the new ball. But here they will come up against Gavin Kaplan and Noah Croes, both of whom have been scoring heavily, and Hermes will need to get them early if they are to have a realistic chance. They will also need their own top order to fire, with Daniel Doyle, Ashley Ostling and CP Klijnhans facing the challenge of a Voorburg attack which, even without Kingma, Ryan Klein and Van Beek, has fared reasonably well, Mees van Vliet doing the heavy lifting and Michael Molenaar slotting in effectively alongside Floris de Lange. Points against Voorburg while their stars are away are, of course, worth their weight in gold for teams on the fringes of the top six, although Hermes will equally be looking forward to the return of Aryan Dutt.
BdJ: Voorburg will be another club with mixed feelings about the Netherlands’ likely early return from the other side of the Pond, but fair to say the bench at Westvliet has proved deeper than at some other clubs missing fewer players. The development of both Elenbaas brothers into genuine all-rounders has certainly helped in terms of team balance, but the Schiedammers still look reliant on their top three for runs at this level. While there’s every chance Klijnhans and Doyle-Calle will be able to get on top of a depleted VCC attack, taking three first-choice bowlers out of their line-up doesn’t signal free-runs-day at Westvliet the way it might elsewhere.
RL: Currently fifth by virtue of a victory over Sparta 1888 last week, VOC Rotterdam are at home to Excelsior ’20, who have yet to post a win and will have been disappointed by their collapse against HCC. Strikingly, it’s been Asief Hoseinbaks, Jelte Schoonheim and Arnav Jain who have been the Bloodhounds’ principal wicket-takers, and apart from Jock McKenzie their overseas brigade have so far (which is, of course, not very far) not really lived up to expectations with the bat. Here they will encounter Excelsior spearhead Jason Ralston and an attack which was competent rather than truly threatening at Thurlede last Saturday. By batting Derek Mitchell as an opener Excelsior have exposed their middle order, where the South African was so effective in partnership with Lorenzo Ingram, and having failed to capitalise on a great start against Voorburg and then fallen to bits against HCC, the Schiedammers may need a rethink before taking on VOC. But Ingram is too good a player to stay quiet for long, and Excelsior will hope that he’s able to cash in with either the bat or the ball (and preferably both) against a VOC side which is also battling to cohere as a unit.
BdJ: While it’s understandable that VOC looked to reinforce their batting after the loss of Edwards and O’Dowd to Kampong over the winter, one wonders whether they’d not have done better to pull in a bowler too for the season, with young prospects Aaditt Jain and Roman Harhangi still looking a little raw at senior level. Excelsior meanwhile look a little light on batting, with Ingram’s lack of form with the bat a particular concern in a middle order that’s lent so heavily on him in the past.
RL: The Amsterdam derby, perhaps second only to the Schiedam version among such traditional encounters, is always a big occasion, and it’s VRA’s turn to make the short journey to Het Loopveld this week to take on ACC. Not for the first time, their fortunes this season have been markedly different, the visitors riding high at the top of the table after their Houdini act against Punjab-Ghausia last Saturday and the home side languishing near its foot. Short as the physical distance may be, it’s a far cry from VRA’s turf square in the Bos to ACC’s mat on the other side of Amstelveen, and even without Singh and Nidamanuru stand-in skipper Johan Smal’s side is much stronger on paper than that led by Shreyas Potdar. It was the spin pairing of Clayton Floyd and Shariz Ahmad which made the difference against Punjab, but ACC’s cutting edge comes from Indian overseas Izhaan Sayed, backed up by the spon of Devanshu Arya and Co. VRA, one feels, would have to be well below their best for their hosts to be in with a chance, but stranger things have happened on a ground where runs are never easy to come by.
BdJ: It’s been a long while since ACC have been anything but underdogs when one team or other shuttles up or down the Kalfjeslaan, and despite reinforcement in the form of old Dosti hands they’ve looked out of their depth in the one format where they’ve held onto a place in the top flight. VRA’s new arrivals have rapidly adapted to mat-cricket, perhaps helped by the fact that their home square has been out of commission for much of the season for one reason or another. The short boundaries, verdant outfield and idiosyncratic surface at ‘t Loopveld may be something of a leveller, but it will likely take more than that to tip things in ACC’s favour.
RL: Having suffered their first defeat of the competition at the hands of VRA last Saturday, Punjab-Ghausia Rotterdam travel to the Bermweg to face Sparta 1888. If not quite a full-on derby since Sparta made the move to Capelle a/d IJssel, there’s an element of local rivalry here as well, not to mention another encounter between potential title contenders and a side whose main concern may prove to be relegation avoidance. Punjab will have been encouraged by a more substantial contribution by Jonathan Vandiar against VRA, and their top order of Musa Ahmad, Shoaib Minhas, Mohsin Riaz, Vandiar and Sikander Zulfiqar is as imposing as any in the competition. It’s doubtful whether Sparta have the bowling resources to meet this challenge, although Cameron Fraser looked sharp against VRA and Khalid Ahmadi can be much more effective than we have seen this season. The reverse applies when Sparta bat: they are too dependent on Riley Mudford if they are to post significant totals, and Punjab’s bowling unit combines skilful spin with nagging seam bowling which can frustrate even the best sides.
BdJ: Khalid Ahmadi’s best performances this summer have been in the red of Belgium rather than Sparta, but he remains a potent threat on any surface. At full strength Sparta ought to be a match for most sides on paper, but too often they’re carrying passengers in an increasingly unforgiving environment. Punjab meanwhile have an embarrassment of riches on the batting side at least, and while they may lack a genuine spearhead with the ball they’re rarely short of options. One suspects it would take a red-inker of a day for one or more of the Spartans to put Punjab under pressure at Bermweg come Saturday.
RL’s picks: HCC, Voorburg, VOC, VRA, Punjab.
BdJ’s picks: HBS, Voorburg, VOC, VRA, Punjab.
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