Rod Lyall 15/07/24
A normal day’s cricket has become something of a luxury this summer, and the leading Topklasse sides took the opportunity on Sunday to show off their batting skills.
None more so than leaders Punjab-Ghausia, who cruised to an 8-wicket victory over Rotterdam rivals VOC at the Hazelaarweg.
To do so, however, the Punjab attack had to stage a recovery, after the home side had reached 148 for two and appeared to be heading for a very big total.
Ryan Schierhout had made 47, Taylor Bettelheim 56 and Jock McKenzie, returning after a hand injury, 50, but VOC’s excessive dependence upon their top three overseas players was in full evidence as the middle order failed to build on this platform, and the side was dismissed for 224.
Saqib Zulfiqar started the rot by removing Bettelheim, but it was his brother Sikander who did much of the damage, claiming three for 30 in five overs, while Sajjad Kamal ran through the tail with three for 40.
Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas then led the chase with an opening stand of 161, and although Minhas was eventually dismissed for 89 and Musa narrowly missed out on a century, caught behind off Roman Harhangi for 96, Jonathan Vandiar and Saqib were able to finish the job with almost eight overs to spare.
On the batter-friendly surface at Craeyenhout HBS set the day’s biggest total, posting 288 for five against Hermes-DVS.
Matt de Villiers contributed a solid 80, but the most decisive element was an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 104, made from just 70 deliveries, between Kyle Klein and Lucas de Bianco; Klein’s 62 not out came from 40 balls and included seven fours and two sixes, while Del Bianco made 40 from 31.
Daniel Doyle replied in kind, despite being hit twice on the helmet and being forced to retire for a time, his 49-ball 65 including eight fours and three sixes, but once he had gone the HBS seam attack of Klein, Lehan Botha and Henrico Venter was too strong for the Hermes batting, and the side was all out for 182, giving HBS a 106-run victory.
The only match between teams in the current top six was at Thurlede, where Excelsior ’20 took extremely valuable points from VRA Amsterdam, who dropped to sixth on the table as a result of their five-wicket defeat.
Put in to bat, VRA’s innings never really got out of first gear, and although Vikram Singh made 46 and Shariz Ahmad, Udit Nashier and Clayton Floyd all got a start, Excelsior dismissed them for 175, Gijs Kroesen taking three for 35 and his brother Luuk, Jason Ralston and Lorenzo Ingram all picking up a couple apiece.
The home side’s batters struggled in their turn, the most assured Derek Mitchell with an 88-ball 64 before he was run out by a direct hit from Johan Smal, but Ingram and Stan van Troost added a crucial 48 for the fifth wicket, battling against VRA’s four-man spin attack to take their side to within 20 of their target.
Ingram stayed to the end with Joost Kroesen, his unbeaten 38, made from 107 deliveries, the ultimate professional innings which made sure of the points for his side.
At the Bermweg, Gavin Kaplan’s phenomenal season for Voorburg continued with a vengeance, his 107 and four for 36 the difference between the sides as Sparta 1888 pushed the defending champions all the way and lost by just 27 runs.
Kaplan was ably assisted in the early stages by opener Cedric de Lange, who hit a maiden Topklasse half-century, and at 131 for one Voorburg also seemed to be on the way to an imposing total.
But Sparta’s pace attack fought back, and with Cameron Fraser claiming five for 45 and Martijn Snoep four for 38 the last six wickets fell for the addition of just 23 runs, and Voorburg were all out for 217.
Another top-order collapse, engineered mainly by Kaplan and young Alejo Nota, left the home side on 66 for five, but they were rescued by a fine knock from Juandre Scheepers, whose 84 came from 85 deliveries and included nine fours and two sixes.
His effort needed more support from the other end, however, and Sparta were eventually dismissed for 190.
Wooden-spooners ACC suffered another heavy defeat, this time at the hands of HCC at De Diepput.
A redeeming feature for the Amsterdammers, though, was the performance of Mark Wolfe, brought into the side to take over wicketkeeping duties from Ben van der Merwe: he took four catches in the HCC innings and then made 22, enabling ACC to recover from 46 for six to a slightly less parlous 101 all out.
For the rest, HCC were simply too strong in all departments, a patient 48 from Shirsak Banerjee, a more aggressive 40 from Boris Gorlee and 42 from Jed Wiggins creating the platform for a punishing 93-run sixth-wicket stand between Yash Patel (55 from 31 deliveries) and Daniel Crowley (37 not out).
Crowley then took three for 25 when ACC replied, with Wiggins claiming three for 24 and Adam Leonard two for 19.
TKcricket 