Rod Lyall 02/06/24
On a dank, cold May Saturday on which one match – that between HCC and VOC Rotterdam — fell victim to the heavy rain which had fallen during the week, the eight remaining teams managed to complete their games.
Defending champions Voorburg, having won off the final ball of their match against VOC last week, squeezed out another victory, this time with two balls to spare, against Excelsior ‘20 at Westvliet.
Put in to bat by Noah Croes in a match reduced to 48 overs before the toss, Excelsior got off to a great start with an opening stand of 132 between Derek Mitchell (70) and Tim Etman (80), but thereafter the innings faltered somewhat, until a late push by the middle order of Stan van Troost, Joost Kroesen and Victor Lubbers got them up to a daunting 254 for six.
Voorburg were soon in a spot of bother, both openers gone with only 29 on the board, but Gavin Kaplan and Croes now proceeded to add 202, a club top-flight record for the third wicket, putting their side into a winning position.
Both men batted with great restraint, happy to pick up ones and twos with some outstanding running between the wickets, and in the damp conditions they only struck ten boundaries between them in the course of their 38-over stand.
Kaplan eventually fell for 104, caught by Tim Etman off his brother Niels’s bowling as he tried to hit him over midwicket, and when Croes was bowled by Jason Ralston at the start of the penultimate over with ten still needed, it seemed for a moment that Excelsior might pull off the win.
But Philippe Boissevain and Michael Molenaar had been left with relatively little to do, and they did it calmly to make sure of the points.
Voorburg are level on points with Punjab-Ghausia Rotterdam, but behind them on NRR at this early stage after the combined side, also last-ball winners on the opening day, had a rather more comfortable victory over promoted side Hermes-DVS Schiedam.
Hermes also made a good start, and were 125 for one in the 24th over with Ashley Ostling having made 26 and Daniel Doyle a 59-ball 81 which included five fours and five sixes, Olivier Elenbaas going on to post 45.
But once Doyle had gone Belgian international Burhan Niaz ran through the middle order, taking four for 33, and with Suleiman Tariq picking up three for 31 and Sikander Zulfiqar, for once the only member of his family on the field, two for 16, the Schiedammers were all out for 196.
Shoaib Minhas made a brisk 24 and Musa Ahmad a patient 32 when Punjab replied, but it was Mohsin Riaz’s unbeaten 106 which ensured that Punjab eased to a five-wicket win, Riaz hitting back-to-back sixes, the first to reach his century and the second to finish the game.
Niels Woermeijer and Olivier Elenbaas both worked hard throughout, finishing with figures of two for 34 and two for 42, while Abdul Jabarkhail bowled economically, taking one for 24 from his ten overs.
At the Bermweg, VRA Amsterdam opened their Topklasse campaign with an even more comfortable win over Sparta 1888, who were on the back foot from the moment VRA’s opening attack of Elijah Eales and Ben Fletcher had removed both openers before there was a run on the board.
Riley Mudford’s 49 and a rearguard 30 from Faizan Bashir enabled them to reach 151, Eales, Fletcher, Clayton Floyd, Shariz Ahmad and Thomas Iles all picking up a brace of wicket apiece, and when Cameron Fraser, bowling fast and straight, had reduced the Amsterdammers to 37 for three, with Shirase Rasool and Johan Smal clean bowled and Adam Constant trapped in front, it seemed that Sparta might be in with a chance.
Demari Prince, however, promoted to open the innings, stood firm, and with support from Shariz Ahmad, took the total to within 11 runs of the target before he holed out to Shaquille Martina at long off off the bowling of Tom Hoornweg for 79.
That left Floyd to knock off the remaining runs with Shariz, who ended on 36 not out, while Fraser had three for 47 for Sparta as VRA won by six wickets with almost 20 overs to spare.
Izhaan Sayed had a dream start to his Topklasse career for ACC, taking a return catch off the first ball of the game to remove HBS Craeyenhout allrounder Lehaan Botha, and the Crows’ batters had to work hard against a disciplined ACC attack, only Matt de Villiers looking really comfortable with a splendid 82-ball 92.
He dominated a stand of 64 for the third wicket with Reece Mason, but once they had gone Sahil Kothari ran through the middle order, claiming three for 29, and it took an enterprising last-wicket stand between Benno Boddendijk and debutant Amrit Singh to get HBS up to 191.
It seemed clear when Singh and Botha removed first Kothari and then Shreyas Potdar with just seven on the board that ACC would face an uphill battle, and although Rahil Ahmed (32) and Ben van der Merwe (26) added 43 for the third wicket, HBS remained in control.
Guy Sheena contributed 28 and Ammar Zaidi a rearguard 32, but Boddendijk cleaned up at the end, taking three for 29, and the home side were eventually dismissed for 138.
TKcricket 