Rotterdam seal historic double

Rod Lyall 07/09/26

At the Zomercomplex on Sunday Rotterdam became the first team for fifteen years to complete the 50-over/T20 double, winning twice to finish three points clear of title-holders VRA.

The Amsterdammers had edged their way to the top of the table by Saturday evening, having won both their matches earlier in the day, but they knew that victory in either of their two games in hand would allow Rotterdam to leapfrog over them, while defeat for challengers Voorburg in the first of those games would assure Sikander Zulfiqar’s team of the title.

Voorburg, for their part, needed to beat Rotterdam, and then hope that Rotterdam would lose to HCC in the afternoon.

Their task was made all the more difficult by the fact that the ETPL had not only robbed them of four of their top six, but also deprived them of their Westvliet ground, so that their last two ‘home’ matches were played on the alien astroturf at De Diepput and the Zomercomplex.

There can be little doubt, however, that Rotterdam have been the dominant side all summer, and that this double victory was thoroughly deserved.

Aaditt Jain struck an early blow for Voorburg after Cedric de Lange had won the toss, removing Shoaib Minhas with the fourth delivery of the match, but a positive response from Musa Ahmad (34 from 29 balls) and Muhammad Gondal (28 from 16) saw Rotterdam to 60 for one by the end of the powerplay.

Michael Rippon came on immediately afterwards and had Gondal caught at deep square leg with his second delivery, and for a time the flow of boundaries was restricted.

But Abdul Rehman Niazi’s unbeaten, 31-ball 44, assisted by Sikander Zulfiqar with 27 and Burhan Niaz with 22 from 11 deliveries, enabled the home side to reach a very challenging 176 for six.

Any prospect of Voorburg matching that was effectively ended by Gondal, whose four-over spell conceded only 14 runs with the wicket of Waseem Mohsen; Gondal’s round-arm, slingy action has been causing batters problems all season, and here he ensured that the reply never really got going.

Mohsen’s 25 was in fact the top score, and although Don Glover, Tom de Leede and Rippon all contributed twenties, it was nowhere near enough, and with Tehzeeb Haider taking three for 32 and Ahmed Shafiq three for 31, Voorburg were eventually all out for 138.

The cup now safely in their hands, Rotterdam celebrated with an even more dominant effort against HCC, running up 209 for eight and then dismissing the Lions for 106.

Set up by Musa’s 36 and 31 from Gondal, the core of Rotterdam’s total was a 22-ball 49 from Sikander Zulfiqar, who hit five sixes; the damage might have been even worse without Clayton Floyd’s three for 36.

With a somewhat inverted batting order, HCC were never in the hunt, although Teun Kloppenburg hit an aggressive 45.

Tehzeeb Haider claimed the first three wickets at a cost of just 12, while Sulaiman Tariq finished things off with five for 35.

On Saturday, VRA had given themselves an outside chance of retaining their title with comfortable victories over already-relegated Sparta 1888 and then over long-time leaders Excelsior ‘20.

They began by dismissing Sparta for 107, Darsh Abhinay taking three for 27 and Shariz Ahmad two for 19, only Juandre Scheepers with 39 and Tim Ferguson with 28 showing any appreciable resistance.

Joost-Martijn Snoep removed both oeners when VRA replied, but Johan Smal held firm with a 26-ball 52 not out, and he and Teja Nidamanuru completed a seven-wicket victory with more than six overs to spare.

Batting first against Excelsior, VRA ran up 205 for eight, Smal hitting his second half-century of the day with 58, again needing only 26 deliveries, and sharing a third-wicket stand of 99 with Sam Casidy (56 from 28); Viraj Thakur chipped in with an unbeaten 43 to see his side past 200, while Jens Blankenstein and Gijs Kroesen picked up three wickets apiece.

To this Excelsior had no answer, Abhinay collecting another three-wicket haul and young seamer Shayan Moodley taking four for 24 as the Schiedammers were dismissed for 124, Joost Kroesen top-scoring with 33.

Hermes-DVS, meanwhile, were finishing off their campaign with a seven-wicket victory over Kampong Utrecht, dismissing them for 103 (Sahil Kothari three for 16) and knocking off the runs in 15.2 overs, largely thanks to a 78-run fourth-wicket partnership between Ash Ostling (44 not out) and Olivier Elenbaas (31 not out).

In the final match on Saturday, HCC dented Voorburg’s hopes of establishing an advantage over Rotterdam with a 33-run victory at De Diepput.

Victor Wiesmeier (35 from 18) and Clayton Floyd (32 from 23) set things up with a rapid third-wicket stand of 62 after Aaditt Jain had removed Kloppenburg and Boris Gorlee, and then Zac Worden (44 from 37) and Daniel Crowley (48 from 28) put on 98 for the fifith wcket to help their side reach 195 for seven.

Voorburg were 80 for one in the ninth over in reply, Cedric de Lange having made 35 and Waseem Mohsen 29, but thereafter scoreboard pressure weighed in, and although Rippon did his best with a 25-ball 39 not out, the innings closed on 162 for six.

It had been a disappointing second half of the campaign for Excelsior, but they finished on a comparative high at Thurlede on Sunday, beating Sparta by 84 runs.

An opening stand of 71 between Bibal Shah (39 from 23) and Tim Etman (30 from 21) was the foundation of their total of 161 for six, Umar Baker claiming three for 18 for Sparta, and then Karson Edward ripped through the visitors’ top order, taking three for 13 in three overs.

Only Deran Benta reached double figures, making 21 as Sparta limped to 77 for nine.

Sparta will be replaced in next season’s Topklasse T20 Cup by the winners of next Saturday’s Hoofdklasse play-off, which will be between neighbours and long-standing rivals Quick Haag and HBS Crayenhout.