Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 31/07/2025
And so, unseasonably early, we reach the final round of this year’s 50-over Topklasse competition. As it turns out, all the tension on Sunday will be in the lower reaches of the table, even the positions of the notional top four having already been all but settled. So, too, are the relegation spots, although there are still a few possible, if unlikely, scenarios which could see things change at the very last moment.
RL: Let’s start with the meeting of HBS and Excelsior ‘20 at Craeyenhout. For the ninth-placed Schiedammers victory here is the absolutely minimal requirement if they are to have even the faintest chance of avoiding the drop. And that would still require results elsewhere to go their way. With the only positive net run rate in the bottom half of the table, the Crows are in a much happier place, and they can regard themselves as effectively guaranteed a spot in next season’s slimmed-down Topklasse. They will be without teenage opener Elmar Boendermaker on Sunday, since he is in Scotland with the national Under-19s, but they should still have plenty of resources to take the points and seal Excelsior’s fate. Having consistently performed below their potential all season, the visitors will no doubt be keen to end their campaign with a flourish, but with the season’s leader run-scorer Tayo Walbrugh leading the way, the Crows will start as odds-on favourites to finish with a win, and possibly even to sneak into the top half of the table.
BdJ: Given the state of play in the net run rate stakes, HBS can safely dispense with the spreadsheets at this point and start looking ahead at the short-format stage of the season. Despite having all-but secured their survival, it’s been a 50-over season most of the Crows will be keen to put behind them. The soon-to-be Dutch-eligible Walbrugh is of course a notable exception, while fellow overseas Botha and Rossouw have also had solid season with bat and ball respectively – the latter now leading the wicket-taking table. One would think Excelsior will be the more motivated of the two sides on Sunday, but that’s assuming that dread has not yet given way to despair at Thurlede. There’s still a pretty clear escape route open to the Schiedammers of course, with VRA heavy favourites against a weakened VRA, but they’ll need to string together back-to-back wins first against HBS and then the Hoofdklasse champions if they’re to pull a Houdini from here, and two consecutive wins is one more than they’ve managed this season.
RL: VOC Rotterdam could make Excelsior’s result irrelevant by beating VRA Amsterdam in the Bos, but they will have to do so without their two young pace bowlers, Aaditt Jain and Roman Harhangi, both of whom will be on U-19 duty in Scotland. Since they are the side’s leading wicket-takers with 21 apiece, they leave a not-inconsiderable hole, and a lot will fall onto the shoulders of Aaditt’s off-spinning brother Arnav and the veteran Jelte Schoonheim. It’s VOC’s batting, though, which has kept them in danger of delegation, and they will need a significant contribution from their overseas contingent if they are to overcome a VRA outfit which, while it has blown hot and cold all season, has plenty of oomph with both bat and ball. With T20 about to move centre-stage, this will be a last opportunity for internationals Vikram Singh and Teja Nidamanuru to play a substantial 50-over innings, and they are likely to want to make the most of it. For the Bloodhounds, even a victory is unlikely to get them out of eighth place and a play-off, and they would need a huge win coupled with a devastating loss for Hermes to see them escape that fate.
BdJ: While other rivalries may be more bitterly contested, few will be more keenly missed than the “dogfight” at the Bos between VRA and VOC should the latter find themselves in the Hoofdklasse next season. For VOC to avoid that ignominy, the equation is fairly simple – beat VRA (or hope HBS beat Excelsior) and then see off the Hoofdklasse champions. Actually accomplishing either will be far from simple, however, especially missing their two lead wicket-takers heading into what will otherwise be their last Topklasse match for a while. There’s resources to be drawn on in the twos in theory; both Ramdas Upadhyaya and Pierce Fletcher have pleny of Topklasse experience if they’re called on to cover, but containing a full-strength VRA card remains a tall order, even if their two Dutch international bats have been struggling for form. Patrick Gouge will doubtless be keen to sign off on a high before heading back to Jersey, where he still has a point of his own to prove to selectors. VRA may have half an eye on the T20 comp already, but they’re unlikely to be caught napping on home turf on Sunday. If VOC want a shot at survival, they’ll likely have to fight for it.
RL: Since Hermes-DVS will be away to wooden-spooners Sparta 1888 at the Bermweg, a reversal of the necessary scale seems profoundly unlikely. The Capelle side have only managed three wins all season, and while Hermes have fallen away dramatically from their achievements early in the campaign and certainly can’t take a win here for granted, the sort of turnaround which would be required for VOC to overtake their NRR would be among the most astounding results in the 130-plus-year history of the competition. It’s true that neither star batters Daniel Doyle-Calle and Ash Ostling nor spinners Hikmatullah Jabarkhail and Sahil Kothari have lately been in the sort of form which took the Light Blues to the top of the table back in May, but with Aryan Dutt and Olivier Elenbaas back in the side from international duty and injury respectively, Hermes are – or at least, ought to be – much less dependent on that quartet. Sparta’s dependence on Kyle Klesse with the bat, Ahsan Malik with the ball and Juandre Scheepers with both remains, and it would be a notable achievement for them to send Hermes home empty-handed.
BdJ: When the net run rate spread passes 400 runs it’s probably time to ditch the spreadsheets, though of course for the Hoofdklasse-bound Spartans such arithmetic has been moot for some time. They remain a threat however, especially on home mat, and with nothing to lose one might well imagine them putting on a show as they did against HBS. Umar Baker’s defiant knock last round demonstrated that Sparta at least have hitting depth, though it’s hard to imagine the Mermes attack being carted about in quite the same way for long. The Sky Blue batting line-up has looked vulnerable on the occasions that the Spanish skipper fails to deliver, but for a Spartan attack that’s collectively averaging well north of 30 with the ball taking his wicket early is likely necessary but far from sufficient.
RL: Having faltered against VRA a fortnight ago, champions Kampong will have another chance to finish the 50-over competition in style when they take on Voorburg at Maarschalkerweerd. The Voorburgers’ cause will not be helped by the absence of Cedric de Lange, Tom de Leede and Alejo Nota, all of whom are involved in the U-19 qualifier, but with their senior internationals restored to them they certainly can’t be written off against Alex Roy’s side, although the latter have every reason to underline their historic success with a win at home. What has been notable for Kampong has been the role of their home-grown players, in particular Pierre Jacod, and the valuable stabilising contribution of Lorenzo Ingram. This final game is an opportunity for Voorburg’s reserves to strut their stuff alongside the internationals, but Kampong have a stable side and can be expected to have the edge.
BdJ: The demands made on Voorburg by the national set-up have inevitably led to a consistent inconsitency in selection this season, which seems to have affected them more profoundly than in the past. In this respect Kampong’s decision to hand the armband to the dependable Roy over more prominent names looks a shrewd one, and the Champions’ success this season has been rremarkably independent of the occassional (if substantial) contributions of internationals Scott Edwards and Max O’Dowd. The acquisition of Berry, Bangs, and seasoned Topklasse performer Lorenzo Ingram was of course an indispensible ingredient too, but above all it’s worth noting that Kampong have a core of nine players that have all played at least 15 matches this season – more than any other team in the competition.
RL: Most adversely affected by U-19 call-ups are HCC, who will be without five of their squad, three of them regulars, when they entertain Punjab-Ghausia at De Diepput. They are fortunate in having Yash Patel able to resume the gloves, which he has surrendered to young Mark Wolfe for most of the season, but it will be harder to replace Shirsak Banerjee and Teun Kloppenburg from their top and middle order, especially with allrounder Hidde Overdijk out through injury and likely to remain so for some time. The Lions have in any case found it difficult to establish an optimal batting order, while their opponents have steamrollered every attack in their path in recent weeks. HCC’s bowlers might present more of a problem, but with Musa Ahmad, Shoaib Minhas and Saqib and Sikander Zulfiqar all in top form they will have to be at their best to keep Punjab from setting another substantial target or chasing down whatever their own batters are able to assemble.
BdJ: Punjab’s intimidating top order has clicked a little too late in the season to mount a title defence, but now that it’s firing on more than a few cylinders they’ll likely be looking ahead to the T20 silverware (and ticket to Cartama) on offer later in the summer. Indeed with little on the line for either side in their Topklasse closer, both may well treat it as an extended warm-up for the short-form competition that’s about to start. The fixture looks more like a long run-up for Punjab though, while HCC,ith the seconds assured of promtion to the expanded Hoofdklasse, it’s perhaps an opportunity to test out some of their bench strength.
RL’s picks: HBS, VRA, Hermes, Kampong, Punjab
BdJ’s picks: HBS, VRA, Hermes, Kampong, Punjab
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