Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 20/06/25
Whereas last weekend’s matches pitted the top five against the sides in the lower half of the table, this round sees more immediate rivals confronting one another, with the bottom four going head to head in games which will be vital in the battle to avoid relegation, while the pursuing pack who have not yet given up hope of snatching the title have crucial opportunities to gain some ground. With another warm, dry weekend forecast, we can look forward to some great contests.
RL: If the biggest question just now is: Who can stop the march of Kampong to the title?, then one possible answer is Punjab-Ghausia at home. The champions saw off VRA last Sunday without ever quite getting into top gear, and with the marginal advantage of playing on their own patch they will also know that a win here would move them to within a point of the leaders. Kampong, however, will be back to full strength with the return of Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards, and although Punjab will regain the services of Saqib Zulfiqar, the reinforcement of Kampong’s mercurial top order is probably a more significant factor. On paper, at least, the sides are pretty evenly balanced, the difference being that up to now Alex Roy’s outfit has played to – and sometimes seemingly beyond – their potential, while Punjab have struggled to reproduce last season’s consistency.
BdJ: If Kampong are to be caught they’ll likely have to lose at least two from here, and if Punjab are to do the catching one of them will almost certainly have to be this one. Both sides have a battery of big guns at the top, usually needing only one or two to fire, though consistency has indeed been the main difference between the two in terms of totals, along with Lorenzo Ingram’s ability to lead lower order recoveries. The return of O’Dowd and/or Edwards would be welcome, though after a long tour where both have missed games Kampong may not be counting on them being ready for action. The real edge Kampong have had over the defending champions this season has been a comparatively effective bowling unit, with fully five bowlers in the top 20 wicket-takers this season, where Musa Ahmad is Punjab’s only representative. The Zomercomplex’s short boundaries may level the playing field somewhat on that front though. Punjab have not lost at home since Round 2, and it wouldn’t be the first time this season they upset the frontrunners there.
RL: The match between Voorburg and HCC at Westvliet is a real Four Pointer, with the sides currently level and three points off the pace. It is, moreover, an encounter with history: not only have the clubs contested two Grand finals in the recent past, but they have also operated something of a revolving door in their player lists, with Patient Charumbira’s move to Westvliet just the latest example. Whether he gets a game here following the return of Voorburg’s international contingent may be moot, depending in part on the often doubtful fitness of Viv Kingma, who only bowled three balls in the Netherlands’ victory over Scotland on Wednesday. The reunion of the home side’s enviable top six with the addition of Michael Levitt and Noah Croes certainly gives them a edge, especially since their opponents’ batting has been a lot less consistent. But Tonny Staal’s first big score of the season against Sparta last week, along with the wicket-taking of Josh Brown, are signs that HCC may be about to coalesce into serious challengers for the title.
BdJ: While both sides are a lot more than a single loss away from being mathematically eliminated from title contention, defeat on Saturday will leave one of the sides needing results elsewhere to consistently go their way if they’re to stay in the hunt.
The return of at least some of Voorburg’s internationals, especially the in-form Levitt if he’s good to go, would mean VCC will be fielding an even stronger batting line-up than the one that posted 327-7 when these two teams met at de Diepput, but a bowling attack likely weaker than the one that failed to defend it. That said Boris Gorlee’s 122 in that match underpinned that chase, and the HCC skipper hasn’t been able to carry his otherwise exemplary form onto natural grass wickets so far this season. Ollie White is the only other HCC bat to have crossed fifty more than once this season, and if HCC are to mount a serious title challenge they’ll either need more consistent contributions from the rest of the top order or for Gorlee to find his form off the mat. A sunny Westvliet this weekend does of course seem a fine occassion for either or both, but the hosts will be hoping for neither.
RL: At the other end of the table, Excelsior ‘20 will welcome VOC to Thurlede knowing that for both teams there’s even more on the line. Currently locked together on seven points, one of them is very likely to fill one of the automatic relegation spots, while the other may at worst face a play-off to ensure survival. That is, of course, barring a dramatic change in form, and in Excelsior’s case luck: injuries have certainly not helped their cause, but none of their overseas players has been able to impose himself so far, and it’s notable that each of their three wins has come when one or other has made a significant contribution. The same applies even more forcefully to their opponents, and although we keep banging on about the fragility of VOC’s batting it is without question the main reason that they find themselves in the basement, a point painfully illustrated by Voorburg last week.
BdJ: Almost certainly the most consequential match of the round, and perhaps the whole back half of the season. With three of the biggest overseas names in the league on the books Excelsior may well be wondering how they ended up here, especially with several of their home-grown players having better seasons than usual. Stan van Troost and Joost Kroesen have both looked genuine assets this year, yet the Schiedammers continue to look less than the sum of their parts. VOC, conversely, are about where most might have expected them to be. The comparartively callow Jannet and Oberholzer have contributed some solid scores on occasion, but VOC’s youthful new overseas have not been able to cover for the loss of Edwards and O’Dowd in the way their predecessors managed, in a team that all too often looks an unfortunate blend of age and inexperience. The efforts of the young bowling attack has been probably the only silver lining to the season so far, and on the rare occassions the batting unit backs them up the Bloodhounds have looked capable of pushing opponents hard, but as a rule this season they’ve rarely had much to bowl at.
RL: While Sparta 1888 may not yet have entered the Last Chance Saloon, there’s little doubt that they’re on the verandah outside, and the shoot-out with HBS at Craeyenhout on Saturday is absolutely crucial for their slim chance of escaping the drop. Sparta’s batters did well to reach their highest total of the season against HCC last week, but it proved to be insufficient for the attack to defend, and they may have similar problems against a Crows line-up which includes Tayo Walbrugh and Wes Barresi – picking them up early could well be the key to the Spartans taking home some desperately needed points. The fact that Ahsan Malik has gone wicketless in his last three games is an ominous sign, although it’s balanced to some degree by his emergence as a useful number three when his side bats. Their hosts on Saturday are not yet out of the woods, knowing that should either Excelsior or VOC put in a late surge they could find themselves in the bottom three, and they’ll be relieved to welcome Kyle Klein back to their ranks.
BdJ: Indeed the Spartans may not have made their entry to said metphorical watering hole just yet, but the camera’s fixed firmly on the swinging doors and the mournful sound of an ocarina is piping in ominously from somewhere. Even earning a play-off againt the Hoofdklasse champions to perhaps survive another season looks an implausibly tall order for the Cappelle side now, and a loss to 7th-placed HBS on Saturday would put the safety of the seventh spot definitively out of reach. Realistically the game is more likely to be of consequence to HBS, who risk being overtaken by the winner of Excelsior-VOC and sliding into relegation contention themselves. The return of Barresi and Klein would take some of the pressure off of Walbrugh, but given that they’ll likely be missing one or both of them again in a couple of weekss time there will be a degree of pressure on both to perform if and when they’re available. If they can’t take two points off the incumbent wooden-spooners, the Crows will be on a glide-path to a late season relegation showdown with Excelsior, VOC or both – those two would-be relegation rivals coincedentally HBS’ final two fixtures of the season.
RL: Once again, VRA have negotiated a shift of their match to Sunday, this time entertaining Hermes-DVS in the Bos. The Sky-blues remain title contenders, while for VRA, who will be delighted to welcome back their international contingent, the four-point gap which has opened up between them and the top five means that their season is now really about consolidating their mid-table spot and avoiding slipping into relegation trouble. The return of Teja Nidamanuru, Vikram Singh and Ben Fletcher can only improve their chances, but both the aggression of the Hermes opening pair of Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle and the depredations of an attack led by Olivier Elenbaas and featuring the spin of Hikmatullah Jabarkhail, back as leading wicket-taker thanks to his Michelle against HBS are problems which Nidaamanuru’s side will need to solve if they are to claim the points here. If the resumption of the Peter Ruffell-Ben Fletcher new-ball partnership enables the hosts to make early inroads into the Hermes batting then VRA will be in with a chance, but otherwise they could find themselves struggling.
BdJ: Just three points clear of the relegation zone and seven adrift of Kampong at the top the most VRA can do on Sunday is do themselves and the frontrunners a favour by taking two points off Hermes, thus making things less interesting at both ends of the table. The return of some or all of the remaining three absent VRA internationals would make that outcome more likely, even if the three all had fairly forgettable tours, at least in their primary disciplines. Nidamanuru may be more likely to give himself a bowl after a career best return against Scotland in the T20I series, but the Sky-Blue slow bowling section remains the stronger of the two. VRA perhaps have an edge in the seam department and in depth of batting, at least on paper. Hemes have looked vulnerable on the occassions that their opening pair fail to deliver, and VRA have the attack to trouble them. A tough one to call just now, but prediction will likely be a lot easier by about the first drinks break of the Hermes innings.
RL’s picks: Kampong, HCC, Excelsior, HBS, Hermes
BdJ’s picks Punjab, VCC, , Excelsior, HBS, Hermes
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