Rod Lyall 21/06/26
With three of Saturday’s matches remaining undecided until the final over, one could scarcely ask for a more competitive Topklasse, or for more pulsating cricket.
The most significant result, perhaps, came at the Zomercomplex, where after a shaky start Voorburg successfully chased down Rotterdam’s 320 for seven, their fifth 300-plus total of the season.
On their previous encounter, at Westvliet on 14 May, these teams had smashed between them, in a match halved by rain, 461 runs in 50 overs for the loss of eight wickets; now, with the weather playing a more marginal role, they produced 641 runs in 99.4 overs.
Put in to bat, Rotterdam could thank Mohsin Riaz, who hit 90 at almost a run a ball, and Saqib Zulfiqar, whose unbeaten 86 required just 70 deliveries, for their relatively comfortable position at the innings break, and when Carl Mumba and Muhammad Gondal reduced Voorburg to 35 for two the leaders appeared to be heading for what would have been a crucial victory.
That was the cue, however, for a 172-run stand for the third wicket between Gavin Kaplan, whose 130 was his seventh and highest Topklasse century, and Bas de Leede, who contributed 54.
114 were still required from 80 deliveries when Musa Ahmad removed De Leede, and when Kaplan, too, departed, the equation was 95 from 61.
Rotterdam were seemingly back in the game, but a spirited stand between Noah Croes and Ryan Klein kept the scoreboard rattling along, and although Musa eventually removed Klein for a 26-ball 39 and Ahmad Shafiq dismissed Michael Rippon soon afterwards, Croes continued until the scores were level before departing for a match-winning 58 from 38 deliveries.
By now the match was in its final over, but Waseem Mohsen was able to conjure the winning single with two balls remaining, and Voorburg returned to the top of the table.
That excitement was fully matched by the relegation-zone clash on the other side of Rotterdam, where VOC achieved their highest total of the season, running up 253 against HBS before they were all out off the final ball of their allotted 50 overs.
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Caleb Montague top-scored with 78, Ethan Price contributed 40, and – not for the first time – Ahsan Malik hit a useful 35 in the closing stages; there were two wickets apiece for seamers Joris van Oosterom and Benno Boddendijk.
The Crows’ reply was in trouble at 78 for four withj Tayo Walburgh and Lehan Botha both among those back in the dugout, but Kent Goedeke and Lucas del Bianco turned the innings around with a fifth-wicket stand of 172, taking their side to within four runs of their target before Jason van der Meulen returned to bowl the final over.
With his first delivery he removed Del Bianco for 66, but Goedeke had reached a maiden Topklasse century, and from Van der Meulen’s penultimate delivery he struck the winning boundary, finishing on 108 not out, made from 105 balls with eight fours.
Of the three tight finishes, perhaps the most remarkable came at the Boudewijn Hoek Oval in Schiedam, where home side Hermes-DVS pulled off a last-minute, six-run victory over HCC.
With a delayed start after overnight rain, Hermes captain Sebastiaan Braat may have regretted his decision to bat first, as his top order struggled in bowler-friendly conditions against a disciplined HCC attack.
Batting at three, Ash Ostling made 96 for the Sky Blues, but he took 41 deliveries to get into double figures, and with his partners, including the normally-aggressive Olivier Elenbaas, also finding the going tough, after 27 overs the total was only 80 for three.
Ostling now accelerated, supported in the closing stages by a brisk 29 from Braat himself, and Hermes closed on 221 for six.
HCC had reached 22 for no loss in five overs when rain drove the players from the field, and after a prolonged delay their innings was cut to 34 overs, with a revised DLS target of 182.
They reached 92 before Shirsak Banerjee fell to an outstanding catch by Daniel Doyle-Calle, and two more wickets fell for the addition ofjust six runs, including Tonny Staal for a 47-ball 61.
The runs now began to dry up, and although Boris Gorlee worked hard with the middle order, with six overs left 32 were still required with four wickets in hand.
The Hermes bowlers maintained the pressure, and 12 were still needed with two overs remaining.
Kothari now dismissed first Daniel Crowley and then Thijs Vrolijk with successive deliveries, and HCC went into the final over with nine still required.
Two runs later Gorlee fell for 30, and although last man Teun Leijer managed to hit Mussayab Jamil to midwicket, the batters’ attempt to run a second proved in vain as Braat’s return to keeper David Rushmere was too quick for Leijer.
HCC had lost four wickets in six deliveries for the addition of three runs, and Hermes had completed a victory which lifted them off the bottom of the table.
An almost single-handed knock of 136 by Max O’Dowd was not enough to bring Kampong victory against VRA in the Amsterdamse Bos, as his side was only able to reach 249 for eight in reply to their hosts’ 284 for eight.
VRA had struggled early on, but their innings was turned around by a sixth-wicket stand of 116 between keeper Jack Cassidy (87) and Ibaad Zaidi (56), and although Lachlan Bangs claimed three for 58 and Saurabh Zalpuri three for 71, Lorenzo Ingram contributing an economical stint and going for just 27 from his ten overs, the home side passed 250 for the fourth time this season.
Kampong lost Damien van den Berg off the first ball of their reply, the first of three wickets for their seam spearhead Sharad Hake, who also had Scott Edwards caught behind for a duck and whose spell of three for 15 in eight overs set his side decisively on the path to victory.
Pierre Jacod (57 at a run a ball) helped O’Dowd add 93 for the fourth wicket, but the runs were coming too slowly, and when Jacod departed 157 were still required from the final 20 overs.
Even O’Dowd’s hitting was insufficient for that task, and although he struck six sixes and as many fours in his 136, when he was dismissed in the penultimate over Kampong were still 43 shy of their target.
The defeats for HCC and Kampong leave them four points behind leaders Voorburg with three rounds remaining, and barring an extraordinary denouement the title race now appears to be reduced to two contenders, Voorburg and Rotterdam, while at the other end of the table the relegation battle is effectively between Hermes and VOC.
TKcricket 