Rod Lyall 03/08/26
The Topklasse T20 Cup campaign resumed at the weekend, Excelsior ‘20 maintaining their unbeaten record and extending their lead to four points with victories over Voorburg on Saturday and Kampong on Sunday.
Their win against Voorburg at Westvliet was another thriller, the seven-wicket margin belying the tension of the final over, which began with the Schiedammers needing still needing ten to overhaul their hosts’ 189 for four.
Karson Edward had rocked Voorburg by removing openers Michael Levitt and Waseem Mohsen inside the first four overs, but a third-wicket stand of 86 between Don Glover (who made 48 from 41 deliveries) and Ryan Klein put the innings back on track.
When Glover departed Klein took over, hammering a 49-ball 98, including nine fours and four sixes, before Edward was able to deny him a century.
Roel Verhagen responded with a 15-ball 35 when Excelsior replied, and then Jack Wood and Riley Ayre put on 121 together, accelerating as the overs began to run out.
So ten were required from Patient Charumbira’s final over, and when he bowled Wood for 80, made from 58 deliveries with five fours and as many sixes, and Charl Prinsloo was run out next ball by a direct hit by Michael Rippon, the game was still in the balance,
They took a leg-bye off the penultimate ball, bringing Joost Kroesen on strike, and his straight drive enabled the pair to take the two required before the ball crossed the boundary; Ayre remained on 62 not out.
Sunday’s victory over Kampong was less gripping, as the Utrecht side battled their way to 113 for nine, internationals Max O’Dowd, Zac Lion-Cachet and Scott Edwards contributing just 14 runs between them, and twenties from Pierre Jacod and Lorenzo Ingram the most significant contributions.
It took Excelsior into the nineteenth over to complete their five-wicket win against a largely second-string Kampong attack, Ayre top-scoring with 43.
It was Kampong’s second defeat of the weekend, the first having come at the hands of Voorburg, who bounced back from their defeat by Excelsior by posting 191 for six in the afternoon, Mohsen top-scoring with 57 and Klein and Tom de Leede contributing thirties.
Kampong could only manage 161 for six in reply, the highlight Jacod’s 47-ball 66.
The win meant that Voorburg would still be in second place on the table at the weekend’s close, but
Rotterdam, meanwhile, hung on to third with a relatively victory over Hermes-DVS on Saturday.
Hermes’ total of 135 for five was largely due to David Rushmere’s unbeaten 67, his only significant support coming from Daniel Doyle-Calle (26), and although Sahil Kothari claimed three for 20 and Sam van Giezen two for 20, Musa Ahmad (30) and Shoaib Minhas (25) gave the 50-over champions a good enough start to see them over the line in 17.1 overs with four wickets in hand.
Rotterdam, however, lost ground to Excelsior on Sunday, when they suffered a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of VRA, who were the only other team to win both their matches.
Rotterdam were given another great start with a 28-ball 53, inclding four fours and three sixes, but although Andul Rehman Niazi made an unbeaten 39 the rest of the batting struggled, and the innings closed on 149 for nine.
Tehzeeb Haider removed Vikram Singh in the third over when VRA replied, but then Shirase Rasool and Johan Smal shared a fine unbroken stand of 136, Rasool finishing on 61 and Smal on 78 as the Amsterdammers reached their target with 16 deliveries remaining.
It was a great couple of days for Rasool, whose 34-ball 52 on Saturday had played a large part in VRA’s 7-run win against Hermes-DVS.
With Shariz Ahmad contributing 34 and Udit Nashier an unbeaten 23, VRA reached 163 for seven.
Rushmere (32), Ralph Elenbaas (20) and Doyle (43) gave Hermes’s rejoinder a promising start, but thereafter the innings fell away and with two overs left 19 were still required with only three wickets in hand.
Two more fell in those final overs, and the innings closed on 156 for nine.
At De Diepput on Saturday, Sparta 1888 continued their run of good form with the ball, dismissing HCC for just 92.
Only Damian Crowley, Clayton Floyd and Hidde Overdijk reached double figures after Juandre Scheepers had removed both openers and further wickets by Nasrat Ibrahimkhil and Johne Jacob ad reduced the hosts to 25 for four.
Hidde Overdijk led the fightback when Sparta replied, claiming three wickets inside the first five overs and completing his spell with figures of three for 7, but Khalid Ahmadi hit four sixes in his 20-ball 30, and although Teun Leijer and Floyd picked up two wickets each, Scheepers held firm, seeing his side home by just two wickets with 15 balls to spare.
The competition will reach the halfway point next weekend, with VRA’s visit to Thurlede on Sunday to take on Excelsior among the most significant fixtures; also likely to have a big effect on the standings is the three-way clash between Rotterdam, Voorburg and HCC, all of whom face each other across the two days.
TKcricket 