Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 15/05/2025
If last week’s matches proved anything, it’s that predicting outcomes in the Topklasse is a mug’s game. But it also confirmed, in large part, that so far this season it’s much more fun being a batter than a bowler: with 11 centuries in the first 20 matches, compared with eleven in the whole of last season, and 13 totals in excess of 250, conditions have certainly favoured batting. With the good weather expected to extend into the weekend, that at least is a trend which might be expected to continue.
RL: Having broken their duck with a remarkable victory over Punjab, VOC Rotterdam now have to take on the current leaders, Hermes-DVS Schiedam. They will at least be at home at the Hazelaarweg, but that won’t be much of a bonus unless they can sort out the ills which continue to afflict their batting. Christiaan Oberholzer stood virtually alone against Punjab, and it was the bowlers, led by young Siebe van Wingerden and the rather less young Jelte Schoonheim, who manufactured the Bloodhounds’ surprise victory. Hermes, it is true, have some batting worries of their own, but with Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle-Calle in supreme form at the top of the order and Asad Zulfiqar contributing his first significant knock in the win against Kampong they have so far been able to rely on a solid start. The Sky Blues’ bowling has so far been their trump card, though, and VOC will need more than another virtuoso effort from Oberholzer if they are to double their points haul here.
BdJ: The only side to have taken ten wickets in each of their matches thus far, Hermes indeed owe their place at the top of the table primarily to their attack. Coming up against a VOC batting card that has looked inconsistent at best, one might predict with reasonable confidence that that streak is likely to survive another week. The Bloodhounds have shown increasing fight over the short season so far though, culminating in a surprise win over the defending champions, achieved without their lead scorer Monty Singh. The bowling remains a concern however, and while Hermes do have a longish tail if one can get through to it, their top order has not shown itself anywhere like as prone to collapse as Punjab’s did last week.
RL: Sparta 1888 similarly took their first points at home to VRA last Saturday, but they now face a difficult journey to meet second-placed Kampong Utrecht, who will presumably be back to full strength into the bargain. With 119 out of a total of 226 Lane Berry was another overseas batter who could have done with more support last week, and Kampong’s bowlers soon found that they were defending a sub-par score in the conditions at the Loopuyt Oval. For Sparta, though, 200 and a bit has so far been the limit of their batters’ success, and that is unlikely to be enough against a Kampong line-up which has twice passed 300. Sparta’s attack, on the other hand, has been pretty effective, and it will need to be to contain Kampong at Maarschalkerweerd. Alex Roy’s side remain serious title contenders, but they cannot afford to yield any more ground to Hermes, and will be determined to bounce back with a win.
BdJ: The pressure will be on Kampong to get full value out of their stacked batting line-up on the occasions that they can field it, and anything less than two points at home to Sparta will be a blow to their ambition to take the title on their first season back. Edwards and O’Dowd have both been in fine touch for the Dutch and will have had plenty of time in the middle at Utrecht, though after a week of ODIs a somewhat tired square may play into the hands of the Spartans and their wiley, pace-off approach with the ball. Two-hundred-and-some may prove a more challenging total than in past rounds, though Kampong would remain favourites to chase anything below 250-odd, and the more likely side to set something substantially higher.
RL: Another side who claimed the points against more fancied opposition last week, HBS likewise are rewarded with a tough assignment, a Voorburg outfit which will be welcoming back most of its international contingent. The Craeyenhout attack, though, will be strengthened by the return of Kyle Klein, while the batting received a big boost against HCC from Lehan Botha’s remarkable display of aggression. One of the more intriguing features of the campaign so far has been the success of Wesley Barresi as a new-ball-sharing off-spinner, with seven wickets for 99 in the two matches since Tayo Walbrugh started using him in that role. Whether he will continue in it with Klein back in the side may be moot, but the encounter between the Crows’ bowlers and Voorburg’s powerful batting line-up should be one of the most interesting aspects of the round.
BdJ: A big caveat there is that Voorburg’s returning international contingent won’t be quite what it was on departure, with Viv Kingma picking up a hamstring injury and Bas de Leede likely heading back to Durham. Yet despite the unheralded success of the Crows’ attack so far this season, they’ll have their work cut out containing Voorburg’s intimidating batting card. Conversely, HBS have looked worryingly dependent on Barresi and Walbrugh for runs thus far, and if they’re going to take the points on Saturday they’ll likely have to win them with the ball.
RL: The meeting of VRA Amsterdam and HCC in the Bos will definitely count as a four-pointer: defeats for both sides last week see them level on points mid-table, a win on Saturday keeping them in touch with the three leaders, another loss bringing them unpleasantly close to relegation territory. With Boris Gorlee in outstanding form with the bat, 303 runs having come in his last three innings, the Lions looked as if they were recovering well from an opening-day loss until they fell away against HBS, while VRA suffered as much as anybody from the absence of their internationals in the past two rounds. So everything points to a real tussle here, and Johan Smal and Patrick Gouge, whose effort with the bat against Sparta proved to be in vain, will welcome much greater support from a VRA line-up which at full strength looks to be as formidable as any in the competition against an HCC bowling unit which has conceded over 600 runs in its last two outings.
BdJ: The outcome at the Bos on Saturday does look like it will be the difference between a stutter and a stumble for the two sides. HCC have the benefit of a settled side unperturbed by the national selectors and the leading run-scorer in the league, even if the rest of the batting order’s returns have been comparatively modest. VRA’s three international have spent much of the ODI series on the sidelines for one reason or another, and though we understand Teja Nidamanuru is expected to be fully fit for Saturday, none of the three have had much game time of late. That said the HCC attack has failed to contain lesser batting sides than what VRA will be fielding on Saturday, and the hosts will feel that if they can neutralise Gorlee the two points will be there for the taking.
RL: Sharing an unenviable position among the bottom four, Excelsior ‘20 and Punjab-Ghausia will be in even greater need of a victory when they meet at Thurlede. The comparative failure of Punjab’s top order, which has been reduced to 60 for four, 67 for four, 62 for four and 30 for six in its four innings so far, is one of the Topklasse’s great enigmas this season, although the injury to Saqib Zulfiqar has undoubtedly not helped a side which otherwise had a pretty settled look. Some bowling unit, one feels, is going to suffer mightily when Punjab hit their straps, and Excelsior’s, so often its great strength, has proved comparatively toothless so far. One notable exception to that was the under-used leg-spinner Joost Kroesen, who almost brought his side back into the game when they appeared to be down and out against Voorburg. But last season’s spearhead, Jason Ralston, has just five wickets from his first four games, and Excelsior will need his cutting edge to be at its sharpest if they are to put Punjab under pressure again.
BdJ: As much as the travails of the top four, Punjab’s title defense has been hamstrung by the Zulfiqar-shaped hole in the bowling attack. One indeed suspects that the likes of Minhas, Riaz and Musa Ahmad will not remain runless for long, but the lack of penetration in the bowling attack is a real concern, and indeed Ahmad’s formerly part-time spin has been the chief source of wickets for the side this season. Coming up against Raynard van Tonder, Antum Naqvi and an in-form Stan van Troost, there’s a danger Punjab’s attenuated attack could be exposed in a big way.
RL’s picks: Hermes, Kampong, Voorburg, VRA, Punjab
BdJ’s picks: Hermes, Kampong, Voorburg, VRA, Excelsior
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