Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall
Distractions abound this weekend as we push further toward the business end of the Topklasse season; the Netherlands women’s team are set to return to the global stage for the first time since before the ICC ran women’s world cups, the men’s team are in Canada for their ongoing CWC League 2 engagement, and we’re told there’s even some soccer happening. That’s all none of our business here at TK of course, except insofar as the men’s team being forced to endure King City for another week continues to unevenly affect availability for our four fixtures on Saturday.
BdJ: Arguably the most significant result arguably attributable in part to the national team’s absence was VOC’s upset win over an understrength Kampong last weekend, and the defending champions will again be without their skipper and two senior bats when they take on frontrunners Rotterdam at Maarschalkerweerd on Saturday looking to reclaim the lead. Without Roy, Edwards and O’Dowd the hosts will start as underdogs against a Rotterdam side that boast four bats averaging well north of 40. Of available Kampong bats, only Pierre Jacod is averaging over 30 this season, and the off-spinning all-rounder will likely have a key role to play with the ball too if the defending champions are to stage an upset.
RL: Rotterdam don’t need any assistance from the national selectors to take the field brimming with confidence against any team in the competition, and although they have suffered the odd aberration, their batting line-up is one of the most powerful ever assembled in the Dutch top flight. But the bowling, while it attracts less attention, is also formidable, especially in the spin department. Apart from a bag of six against Hermes early on, Carl Mumba has perhaps been a less incisive spearhead than Rotterdam may have hoped, but Ahmed Shafiq, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shoaib Minhas, Musa Ahmad and Muhammad Gondal more than make up for that. For Kampong, Saurabh Zalpuri filled in admirably for the absent Alex Roy, The return of Lorenzo Ingram, too, could not have come at a better time for the defending champions, and although his contribution against VOC was limited, the mere presence of his vast experience is a considerable asset in a team deprived of its other senior players.
BdJ: VOC themselves will travel to Westvliet looking to strike again while the iron is hot, taking on a weakened Voorburg. The return of Gavin Kaplan has gone some way to mitigate the loss of four top order bats to Oranje, but it took a maiden century from Ryan Klein at five to get VCC to a respectable score against HBS last week before the rain put a stop to proceedings. Meanwhile VOC’s attack was bolstered by Vivian Kingma who took three wickets on debut for his new club last week, and may well be fired up on return to Westvliet. Paired with Roman Harhangi VOC could bring an incisive new ball attack to bear on Voorburg’s threadbare top order, and might just sense an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone.
RL: Voorburg will probably feel that they stood up pretty well to the loss of most of their top order against HBS, and perhaps a little frustrated that the adverse weather meant they had to be content with a point. A six-ball duck for Michael Rippon didn’t help their cause, and they will be hoping that he is able to make a more substantial contribution against VOC. Their attack, of course, is relatively intact, and while Mees van Vliet’s lack of form is a worry, they have sufficient resources to trouble a VOC line-up which added another to its list of disappointing performances against Kampong. The Bloodhounds’ bowling unit, on the other hand, was able to take advantage of their opponents’ slightly desperate and ultimately misplaced attempt to beat the rain, although it’s unlikely that Voorburg will display the same profligate tendencies. With the international experience of Kingma as well as Ahsan Malik, however, VOC won’t make life easy for the home side’s second string line-up, even with Kaplan added to the ranks.
BdJ: Meanwhile in the mid-table, HCC welcome HBS Craeyenhout to De Diepput. The Crows will be aiming to consolidate their place in the middle of the pack, while the hosts will be looking to catch up to the top three. They suffered a setback dropping points to VRA at the Bos last week, failing to fully recover from a top order collapse in the absence of skipper Boris Gorlee. With Hidde Overdijk sidelined, the Lions don’t have quite the same lower-order resilience that they once enjoyed, though their bowling reserves have covered for his absence admirably, young Justin Trijzelaar impressing when called upon to step up. HBS meanwhile will have to contend with the absence of seam spearhead Kyle Klein as well as, perhaps more worryingly, skipper Tayo Walbrugh’s alarming dip in form. They owe their current position of relative safety in large part to the batting form of all-rounder Botha and Del Bianco, coupled with new overseas Kent Goedeke finding his feet in the Topklasse, but will need more from their senior bats if they’re to avoid sinking back down toward the danger zone.
RL: With Voorburg and Kampong operating with one hand tied behind their backs, HCC really needed to capitalise if they are to launch a serious challenge for the title, and it was therefore a real blow that they were unable to beat VRA on Sunday. It’s not just a question of lower-order resilience, although that is important: twenties and thirties aren’t really enough from the top six, and although Tonny Staal features among the top ten batters in the competition, the Lions haven’t been able to build big partnerships and put opposing attacks under pressure. The Crows have been rather more successful with the bat, but the bowlers have conceded an average in excess of 250 in innings which have gone the full distance – home matches at runs-rich Craeyenhout admittedly pushing that figure up – and without Klein as spearhead and Botha not having bowled since 2 May, they have struggled to bowl their oppponents out. Benno Boddendijk has been consistently taking wickets and the development of Joris van Oosterom has been a bonus, but there have been occasions when the attack has seemed a bit threadbare.
BdJ: Finally VRA will be heading down to Schiedam to take on relegation spot incumbents Hermes DVS, well aware that defeat could see them slip into that undesirable position themselves. With word that stand-out seam all-rounder Vikram Singh has suffered a significant shoulder injury during preparations in Canada that will likely rule him out for a number of weeks, the Amsterdammers could find themselves staring down the barrel if they can’t get clear of the tail end of the table this week. For Hermes this four-pointer comes at an inconvenient time too however, with skipper Sebastiaan Braat still stuck at King City along with Oli Elenbaas and Aryan Dutt. That said, Ralph Elenbaas has now eclipsed his brother in the wicket-tallies this season, and spinners Kothari and Jabarkhail look a decent enough combo against VRA’s largely right-handed line-up. Newcomer David Rushmere also looks to have recaptured some of his early form, even if the opening pair continues to struggle. The absence of Braat leaves a tough hole to fill for the hosts though; the Sky Blues haven’t won without him since returning to the top flight. VRA meanwhile found a way to bank points last week even without Singh, and they’ll have to keep finding ways if they’re to pull clear of an ugly relegation fight.
RL: A classic four-pointer this, with both sides much closer to relegation than might have been expected at the start of the season and time beginning to run out. David Rushmere’s solo effort last week was a classic of a different kind, but it also pointed up how fragile the Hermes batting can be, especially without Elenbaas, Dutt and Braat contributing from the middle order. VRA’s bowling, it’s true, isn’t as testing as Rotterdam’s, but it has a similar spin component, and the Sky Blues will be hoping that Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle-Calle will be able to give them a rather more solid start against their visitors’ seamers. Ibaad Zaidi’s mature knock in partnership with Shariz Ahmad made all the difference against HCC last Sunday, buoying up a VRA middle order which has also shown signs of vulnerability at key moments, but the Amsterdammers will need to do some serious rejigging at the top of the batting if, as feared, Vikram Singh’s injury turns out to be as significant as it appears.
BdJ’s picks: Rotterdam, VOC, HCC, Hermes
RL’s picks: Rotterdam, Voorburg, HCC, VRA.
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