Rod Lyall 09/07/25
While Kampong march on towards their seemingly-foreordained Topklasse title, things are much tighter in the Hoofdklasse, where two sides are within three points of leaders ACC with four games to play, with fourth-placed Dosti Amsterdam a further two points behind.
For the pursuers, the coming double weekend is likely to be crucial, with Bloemendaal, currently second, facing ACC at home on Saturday before travelling to the all-astroturf ground at Nieuw Hanenburg the following day to face third-placed Quick Haag.
ACC, though, have the advantage on Sunday of entertaining wooden-spooners VRA 2, the only second team in this year’s Hoofdklasse competition, and although they still have the return match against Quick Haag to deal with they have the inside running for a play-off which could see them return to the top flight just a year after they were relegated.
The Amsterdammers retained their 2024 overseas, Ben van der Merwe and Izhaan Sayed, this season, and they are still captained by Anis Raza, there are many new faces in the set-up at Het Loopveld.
The bulk of the runs has come from Raza and the two overseas, but the leading wicket-taker is newcomer Iftikhari Ahmad, with 25 at 14.88, while Devanshu Arya remains a key member of the attack.
Despite losing half last-year’s side, with Rahil Ahmed and Mahesh Hans returning to Dosti, Shreyas Potdar and Mark Wolfe moving to VRA and HCC respectively and Sahil Kothari signing for Hermes-DVS, the squad was strengthened by the transfer of Akash Arora and Abishek Saxena from Qui Vive, while those who have stepped up from ACC’s second side include Baljit Singh, Suraj Belvadi and Ayaan Farooq.
Bloemendaal, their opponents on Saturday, have not played in the top flight since 1990, and these days have a strong South African presence, with Robert Jordaan and Dihan Bekker both turning out for Pretoria club Irene Villagers and Luca Balducci playing for Centurion in the same competition.
The fourth overseas is Cape Town-born Portuguese international Francoise Stoman, while a fifth South African is Dutch resident Karl Marais.
Jordaan has led the way with season with 568 runs at 71.00 and 21 wickets at 19.67, while Balducci has contributed 439 runs at 31.36 and Bekker has claimed 19 wickets at 17.84.
The pace attack also includes former Dutch international Quirijn Gunning, who returned to the club after a spell with VRA.
Others with international experience are Shahab Ud Din, an off-spinner who played for Belgium after several years with Bloemendaal’s local rivals Rood en Wit, and veteran Mangesh Panchal, who was playing for VRA when he was selected for the Dutch national side and who has turned out occasionally this season.
Due to face all three of their main rivals in their next three games, Quick Haag have ground to make up but at least know that they largely have their fate in their own hands.
They continue to rely to a considerable extent on players from the side which last played in the Topklasse in 2019: skipper Daan Vierling heads their batting aggregates with 428 runs at 38.91, with Bob van Gigch, Geert Maarten Mol, Lesley Stokkers and Jeroen Brand all remaining from that team.
The attack is spearheaded by Australian Alex Bevilaqua, who has played for both Western Australia and Tasmania and who has 31 wickets so far this season at an average of 15.13.
He is supported by New Zealander Daniel Rawson, while the squad also includes home-bred youngster Casper Dekeling, and Mats Prenen and Stijn de Leede, recruited from Rood en Wit and Voorburg respectively.
Dosti Amsterdam, outsiders at this stage, five points behind the leaders, will know that they would be dependent on results elsewhere even if they were to win their last four games, but they would doubtless be encouraged by a repeat of their first encounter with Quick, which they won by six wickets after dismissing their opponents for 83.
As well as the return of Ahmed and Hans from ACC they have been boosted by Asief Hoseinbaks’ return from VOC, and he has collected 22 wickets so far at 20.32.
A greater contribution with the ball, however, has come from overseas Braden Taeuber and Jake Jonas, with 31 and 27 wickets respectively, while Tasmanian Josh Hartill has been the most prolific with the bat, making 424 runs at 38.55.
Remarkably, the Sportpark Drieburg outfit have beaten all three sides ahead of them in the table, Bloemendaal twice, but their lack of consistency, marked by defeats at the hands of lower-placed rivals, has left them probably facing another season in the Hoofdklasse.
Whatever happens, this weekend’s games will go a long way towards deciding who faces the eighth-placed Topklasse side in next month’s play-off.
TKcricket 