Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 12/09/2024
It seems a very short time ago that the Topklasse campaign got under way, and in a way it was, the T20 Cup having delayed the start of the 50-over competition until the end of May. Yet here we are, with autumn beginning to assert itself, and the final matches of an all-too-short cricket season once more with us. At this stage the forecast for Saturday is decidedly promising, so we can look forward to some excellent cricket to grace the competition’s denouement.
RL: If Punjab-Ghausia and VRA Amsterdam are able to produce a grand final anything like the semi-final they fought out a fortnight ago, neutral fans of the Topklasse could be in for a treat – and supporters of the two teams for a very tense afternoon. Whether it comes soon after 11 o’clock or at the start of the chase, the battle between VRA’s new-ball pairing of Ben Fletcher and Elijah Eales on the one hand, and Jonathan Vandiar (deployed these days as a pinch-hitting opener), Shoaib Minhas and Musa Ahmad is likely to be decisive. If those three can lay solid foundations, Punjab will be very favourably placed, with Mohsin Riaz and Saqib and Sikander Zulfiqar to follow. Then it will be up to the Amsterdammers’ spin quartet of Shariz Ahmad, Clayton Floyd, Leon Turmaine and Udit Nashier, backed up by the seam of Sharad Hake and Vikram Singh, to limit the damage.
On the other side, the Punjab attack is equally challenging, if somewhat less incisive. Khurram Shahzad has done a great job since replacing Ahmad Shafiq in the side, and his new-ball combination with veteran Sulaiman Tariq is capable of applying real pressure to VRA’s rather hit-and-miss top three of Demari Prince, Shirase Rasool and Singh. Singh, though, is capable of taking any attack apart, and VRA then have the potential trump card of Johan Smal, their leading run-scorer with 476 runs at 47.60, coming in at four. Thereafter it’s down to the allrounders: Shariz, Floyd, Eales and Nashier, and it’s a question how well they would deal with the seam of Sajjad Kamal, Sikander Zulfiqar and Burhan Niaz, not to mention Minhas’ more-than-useful spin. They did, it is true, make 265 in the semi-final, but events proved that at the Zomercomplex that is not necessarily enough.
It’s a toss-up (not, hopefully, in the sense that the toss operated in the Bos last Saturday), but if I had to call it I’d probably give the edge to Punjab – but only just!
BdJ: With so little separating the two finalists across the season, it is indeed hard to look past home advantage as a potentially decisive factor for the climactic fixture of the 2024 season. With its short boundaries and lush outfield there’s sometimes a tendency for games at the Zomercomplex to devolve into slogging contests, though Shoaib Minhas showed last week the value of getting your eye in before teeing off (not recklessly). Batting against his favoured opposition (having made at least 50 every time he’s faced VRA this season) Minhas saw off 20-odd deliveries before striking his first boundary on the way to what proved a decisive run-a-ball ton, a notable contrast to the more ebullient Vikram Singh, who went hard from the get go, hitting as many sixes as Minhas on the day but precious little else.
Singh remains a potential match-winner of course, but the visitors will likely need him to spend longer in the middle (and ideally arrive there a little later) if they’re to get to a winning score. What exactly a winning total might be be is hard to know what might be enough at the Zomercomplex of course, though Punjab have only been asked to chase 260+ twice on their home ground this season and both times it was a near-run thing.
One intriguing sub-plot for the day will will be the goings on back at VRA’s home-ground, where the two clubs’ second teams will meet in the Eersteklasse final as their respective first XIs contend for the Topklasse title. The Amstelveen faithful will doubtless recall that the last time the VRA 2s won promotion was back in 2011, the same season as first team were last crowned Topklasse Champions. A chance then either for history to repeat itself, or for Punjab to claim that rare double success.
RL: There’s another re-match, of course, in the Hoofdklasse, though this time with a change of venue, Quick Haag having earned the right to host the grand final with their surprise semi-final win over Kampong Utrecht. Kampong have revealed an unwanted vulnerability with the bat in the past couple of weeks, not only with their dismissal for 155 by Quick but also by slumping from 116 for two to 150 for eight against Salland last Saturday. The fact remains, though, that their top four of Max O’Dowd, Ratha Alphonse, Damien van den Berg and Scott Edwards, Kampong have an enviable line-up, while Shashank Kumar, Alex Roy and Co. demonstrated against Salland that they will take advantage of any sign of weakness in opposing batters. Quick, through, looked firmly in command chasing a modest target in the semi-final, Daan Vierling guiding his side to victory, and this time they will have the advantage of playing on their all-astroturf home ground at Nieuw Hanenburg. Their overseas, Nathan Crudeli and Regan Sheahan, are likely to again play a key role, but you have to think that with a place in next year’s Topklasse at stake, Kampong’s superiority on paper will this time be transferred onto the field.
BdJ: A showdown with Quick Haag may be becoming something of a rite of passage for aspiring promotees to the Topklasse, and even if Jeroen Brand’s veterans had no stated ambition to win their way back to the top flight this season they’ll doubtless be delighted to spoil Kampong’s expected ascension and go mix it with the big boys for another season or two. At least three factors will be playing in their favour on Saturday; the first of course is experience, the second home advantage, and the third the comparative lack of pressure on a side for most of whom another stint back in the Topklasse would likely be something of a last hurrah regardless.
Conversely the pressure on Kampong seemed to translate directly into nerves last week, especially for the younger members of a side for whom promotion was very much part of the plan this season. With Edwards and O’Dowd in the top order Kampong hardly lack for experienced big game players of course, and the fact remains that on paper they remain the stronger side. Yet it’s worth noting that both of Kampong’s wins over Quick this season were set up by big scores from either O’Dowd or Edwards, and if either or both were to fail on Saturday Quick still have the resources to pile on some serious pressure.
While Brand, Vierling, Stokkers, Mol and van Gigch may have more collective years under their belts than the TK team combined, there’s little sign that any of them are interested in a dignified retirement just yet. They’ve provided consistent support with the bat for Crudeli and Sheahan, and it’s really in the bowling department that Quick look outgunned in this match-up. In Kumar, Jacon, Swanepoel and Roy Kampong have four bowlers collectively averaging less than 13, while Crudeli and Brand are the only frontline Quick bowlers averaging under 20. In short, Quick will be counting in part on pressure to do the job of taking wickets for them, and the Hoofklasse title still looks like it’s Kampong’s to lose.
RL’s picks: Punjab, Kampong.
BdJ’s picks: VRA, Kampong.
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