Rod Lyall 05/07/26
With impeccable timing, Rotterdam slipped past championship rivals Voorburg on Saturday, and into the box seat for Sunday’s final round of matches.
To do so, they had to chase down the target of 261 set for them by VOC, and this they did with some ease, winning by seven wickets with more than twelve overs to spare.
Facing the imminent threat of relegation, their opponents had begun promisingly after winning the toss, the opening stand of 116 between Samir Butt (55) and Francois Fourie (55) the side’s first century partnership of the season for any wicket, but once they had gone the innings had subsided, the only substantial contributions Caleb Montague’s 52 and 27 from Ahsan Malik as VOC were all out for 260.
Ahmad Shafiq did the early damage, picking up three for 34, including the dangerous Jason van der Meulen, but thereafter it was Saqib Zulfiqar who cleaned up the innings, his five for 50 the third five-wicket haul of his career and leaving him needing just one more for 200 top-flight wickets.
Rotterdam’s powerful batting line-up never seemed in any serious danger of falling short of their target, but the issue was sealed by a third-wicket stand of 165 between Musa Ahmad (84) and Mohsin Riaz, whose 76-ball 117 not out included 11 fours and six sixes.
At the Boudewijn Hoek Oval in Schiedam, meanwhile, Voorburg surrendered their leading position by losing to Hermes-DVS by 29 runs.
For Voorburg, too, the day had begun well, as Aaditt Jain and Jaynul Islam reduced Hermes to 21 for three inside nine overs, but Ash Ostling and Nick Statham began a fightback which culminated in Mussayab Jamil’s unbeaten 46, and the home side scrabbled their way to 181 for eight.
Given Voorburg’s batting depth this seemed unlikely to be enough, but – not for the first time this season – the engine failed to fire, Aryan Dutt grabbing three quick wickets to leave the leaders on 38 for three, and although Bas de Leede contributed a fighting 50, when he was last out his side were still well short of their target.
Jamil capped a fine all-round performance with four for 25 and Hikmatullah Jabarkhail claimed two for 37 as Hermes moved well clear of the relegation zone.
HCC had started travelled to Maarschalkerweerd with some faint hope that victory over Kampong combined with results elsewhere going their way could take them into Sunday’s clash with Rotterdam with a sniff of the title, but any such thoughts were quickly blown away by their hosts, who bowled them out for 106 in exactly 29 overs.
Kampong skipper Alex Roy began the collapse, but all the bowlers contributed, and only an aggressive 35 from Josh Brown, batting at eight, enabled his side to achieve three figures.
Max O’Dowd fell to the first ball he faced when Kampong replied, but Damien van den Berg and Scott Edwards then knocked off the runs in double-quick time, Van den Berg finishing with 54 not out from 44 deliveries and Edwards 48 not out from 38.
The highest-scoring, and hardest-fought, match was in the Amsterdamse Bos, where VRA chased down a HBS total of 275 for three, winning by two wickets with just one ball to spare.
HBS were on a shaky 46 for three after twelve and a half overs, Sharad Hake having collected all three wickets, but they were rescued by a record-breaking stand of 229 between Lehan Botha and Kent Goedeke, the highest ever recorded for any wicket by their side and the second-best for the fourth wicket in the history of the competition.
Botha’s 142 not out was his fourth Topklasse century and his highest, coming from 130 deliveries with 16 fours and one six, while Goedeke finished on an unbeaten 94.
When VRA replied, it was Johan Smal who matched Botha’s effort with a match-winning 129; despite being severely hampered by cramp towards the end of his innings, he guided his team to within 14 runs of their target, hitting 13 fours and three sixes, and useful contributions from Adam Madgwick (32) and Udit Nashier (35 not out) enabled VRA to squeeze home.
TKcricket 