Author: tkcricket

Rushmere century in vain as Rotterdam go top

Rod Lyall 08/06/26

HCC missed an opportunity to move into second place on the Topklasse table on Sunday, when they lost to VRA by five wickets in a hard-fought, at times attritional battle in the Amsterdamse Bos.

Put in to bat in overcast conditions which clearly favoured the bowlers, HCC began confidently enough, but then Sharad Hake and Johan Smal grabbed three wickets in nine deliveries to break open the middle order, and when stand-in captain Teun Kloppenburg fell four overs later, the Lions found themselves on 52 for four.

The lower order was partially successful in digging them out of trouble, keeper Yash Patel top-scoring with 35 as Teja Nidamanuru turned to his four-man spin attack of Sharif Ahmad, himself, Darsh Abhinay and Udit Nashier, and a series of twenties managed to get the total up to 204.

Josh Brown removed both openers when VRA replied, but a 60-run third-wicket stand between Smal (29) and Nidamanuru (36) put the hosts back on track.

Then Justin Trijzelaar took a hand, dismissing both and adding the scalp of Jack Cassidy, and at 83 for five VRA appeared to be heading for defeat.

That brought Ibaad Zaidi in to join Shariz, and they slowly built up what eventually became the match-winning partnership, Shariz making 45 not out and Zaidi posting his second Topklasse half-century, going on to a career-best, unbeaten 70.

The pair’s cautious and extremely effective approach was highlighted by the fact that they only hit three boundaries between them in their stand of 125, before Zaidi finished it with a six with 20 deliveries remaining.

The scheduling of this match for Sunday meant that, although the start was delayed by 45 minutes because of a wet outfield, the teams were able to avoid the disruptions which the weather created the previous day.

At the Zomercomplex, Rotterdam withstood a remarkable solo batting performance by Hermes-DVS’s David Rushmere and a long rain delay before they could start their abbreviated reply, their five-wicket victory taking them back to the top of the table.

Coming in at 2 for one, Rushmere made 118 out of a Hermes total of 188 before he was last man out in the 39th over.

He received very little support from the rest of the batting, only Daniel Doyle-Calle, Zaffar Chaudhary and Ralph Elenbaas reaching double figures, most of the damage being done by Rotterdam spinners Ahmad Shafiq and Saqib Zulfiqar with three wickets apiece and Shoaib Minhas with two.

After a long wait the players were finally able to return to the field, with Rotterdam set a DLS target of 165 in 36 overs.

They did it in just over 27, mainly due to Muhammad Gondal’s 63-ball 70 and an unbeaten 34 from Saqib, and results elsewhere saw Hermes return to the foot of the table.

The most remarkable of those results was at the Hazelaarweg, where a depleted Kampong dismissed VOC for 141, but were then themselves dismissed for just 132, losing by nine runs

With rain clouds threatening to bring the match to a premature end and at least 20 overs needing to be bowled to achieve a valid result, Kampong’s batters were caught between two stools, trying to knock off the runs as quickly as possible, but losing too many wickets in the process.

Two brief interruptions heightened their anxiety, but in the end VOC’s bowlers were able to have the last word, despite Damien van den Berg’s 40-ball 47 at the start of the innings.

Kampong were, of course, withut key batters Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards, but even so they will have been deeply disappointed that they were unable to capitalise on the efforts of their bowlers, Pierre Jacod claiming three for 26 and Lorenzo Ingram and Saurabh Zalpuri picking up two apiece as VOC slumped from 61 for one to 141 all out.

The national selectors had caused even greater problems for Voorburg as they took on HBS at Craeyenhout, but 59 from Gavin Kaplan, recalled to the colours for this eventuality, and a maiden Topklasse century of 100 not out by stand-in captain Ryan Klein, enabled them to reach 266 for seven in 50 overs.

The latter stages of the innings were not without controversy, as the umpires kept the players on the field during several showers and then, after an interruption and an early lunch, bringing them back to complete the innings.

A further long delay followed, before HBS were able to start their chase with the target 161 from 20 overs.

Only one over could be bowled, however, before the umpires ruled that after so much rain conditions were unsafe for play to continue and the match was abandoned, each side taking a point.

Preview Round 9

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong | 02-06-2026

And so we’ve reached that point in the season where the depth of several squads is to be tested in earnest, since for the next two rounds the members of the men’s national team will be otherwise engaged in King City, Canada. Voorburg, Kampong and Hermes-DVS are the clubs most severely affected, while HBS and VRA suffer to a lesser extent. HCC, Rotterdam and VOC get off scot-free, none of their players having made the selection. Apart from the implications for the competition, there is something to celebrate heartily in the fact that the three new call-ups, Cedric de Lange, Olivier Elenbaas and Alex Roy, are all Dutch-produced – hearty congratulations to all three from Tkcricket!

RL: The national selectors have deprived Voorburg of four of their top five batters for their visit to Craeyenhout on Saturday to face HBS, while the home side will be without new-ball bowler Kyle Klein and (on paper at least, since he’s only played one game so far), Roelof van der Merwe. It’s probably not entirely coincidental, therefore, that Voorburg have fielded 19 different players in eight games so far, although it may be a 20th, Nirav Kulkarni, who needs to step up from the Seconds, where he has been the club’s leading run-scorer, to reinforce the top order. With three wins to date, the Crows have moved clear of an immediate relegation threat, and there can be no doubt that they have the bowling strength to trouble a second-string Voorburg batting line-up. Their own batting has been a bit more hit-and-miss, but in Tayo Walbrough, Lehan Botha, Kent Goedeke and Lucas Del Bianco they have the potential to trouble a Voorburg attack whose form has been distinctly variable. Goedeke, though, has settled in well, and is their leading wicket-taker with 15 at 24.27; Botha, on the other hand, has been relatively quite with only four wickets in eight outings, three of them in one match against Kampong in the season’s opening round.

BdJ: It is indeed rather uneven swathe cut by the selectors’ scythe, and once again it’s the tall poppies at VCC that suffer. While the second-team stalwarts that have occasionally turned out in the Topklasse this season have generally done themselves credit, though more often with ball than bat, and Voorburg replace the whole top four. Tom de Leede’s been going well as a pure bat for the twos, Waseem Mohsen’s made runs at the top for the seconds too, and the overlooked Michael Rippon could be perhaps be pushed up the order. It will be a makeshift top order though, and the crucial question will be whether the Crows have the bowling to take advantage.

RL: The schedule could scarcely have been kinder to VOC Rotterdam, who face Kampong Utrecht this week and Voorburg next, while they are without their internationals. The absence of Scott Edwards, Max O’Dowd and skipper Alex Roy will make a big dent in the eleven of the defending champions and current leaders, but they gave a hint of their thinking by including Ajinkya More in last week’s side, and with Vikram Chaturvedi also making runs and taking wickets in the Seconds they should still be able to put out a competitive team. (It would also be an ideal moment for Lorenzo Ingram to return from injury.) Whether that will be enough to overcome VOC at the Hazelaarweg remains to be seen: it’s telling that the Bloodhounds have conceded 300-plus three times this season and only passed 200 three times themselves, and even without their stars Kampong are likely to prove a handful for a Rotterdam side in which Jason van der Meulen has too often received too little support. Roman Harhangi and Asief Hoseinbaks are their most consistent performers with the ball, but an unsettled top order simply hasn’t been producing enough runs, and if Shashank Kumar can get amongst them they may find things little easier on Saturday.

BdJ: Kampong have happily muddled through without Edwards and O’Dowd in the past, though the absence of Lane Berry coupled with Ingram’s sidelining already means the blow will fall a little heavier, and the loss of skipper Alex Roy to Oranje is an entirely new obstacle. The bowling stocks are less of a concern though, especially as Pierre Jacod didn’t make the cut for the Dutch side yet. There will be pressure on the Bloodhounds too, knowing they have a rare chance to knock over the table-toppers while they’re below strength. VOC’s bats have managed only six half-centuries between them so far this season, and one suspects they’ll need to better that average if they’re to take points off the title-holders.

RL: Untroubled by the call of the national selectors, Rotterdam will be at home to a Hermes-DVS side minus skipper Sebastiaan Braat, recalled to the orange colours, as well as fellow-allrounders Aryan Dutt and Olivier Elenbaas. What would already have been a big ask has therefore become considerably tougher, with the best part of thirty overs eviscerated from the Sky Blues’ attack. Playing in the Tweede Klasse, which is where the Hermes Seconds currently reside, can scarcely be viewed as adequate preparation for a call-up to the Topklasse (I simply do not understand the clubs’ resistance to a return of the Reserve Topklasse), and it may be that the Schiedammers will need to make a further call on their Belgian contingent. Rotterdam, on the other hand, have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to make even full-strength attacks suffer, and they were further strengthened last week by the appearance of left-hander Abdul Rehman Niazi, a youngster with inter-provincial experience at youth level in Pakistan. Barring a quite remarkable turnaround, this looks like one of the easier results to pick this week.

BdJ: The question of whether playing for Karachi Zone II under-19s constitutes “provincial level” (or indeed “representative under 19s”) is perhaps best left to the philosophers – or whoever has the unenviable task of filling out the player points sheet – but with Carl Mumba and the surprisingly-not-in-Canada Saqib Zulfiqar expected to return next week, Rotterdam will have the luxury of a full roster to choose from. Conversely, for Hermes the loss of Braat and Elenbaas will be at least as much a problem on the batting side of things. The pair are currently leading the batting averages for the Sky Blues, with the Hermes top three thus far failing to live up to past performance or early promise. It will likely take at least one (ideally all three) of Ostling, Doyle-Calle or Rushmere to have an old-fashioned day out for Hermes to keep pace with a Rotterdam batting card that has (bar the very occasional misfire) been firing on more than enough cylinders this season.

RL: Cricket, they say, is a team game played by individuals, and in that respect there is a stark contrast between VRA Amsterdam and their opponents in the Bos on Saturday, HCC. The Lions may not currently have any internationals in their ranks, but they have cohered admirably as a team, with the reconstructed four-man seam attack of Josh Brown, Daniel Crowley, Justin Trijzelaar and Thijs Vrolijk, backed up by the spin of Clayton Floyd and Teun Kloppenburg, arguably the most effective bowling unit in the competition. Their hosts, by contrast, will be missing their newly-emerged pace spearhead, Vikramjit Singh, who in addition to his 23 wickets at 12.48 has also moved into third place in the batting aggregates with 368 runs at 46.00. They will sorely miss his all-round input, although their spin department of Teja Nidamanuru, Darsh Abhinay, Udit Nashier and Shariz Ahmad – and as of last Saturday, Sam Cassidy – is a distinct asset, especially given the relatively generous dimensions of VRA’s home ground. The batting has been reinforced with the return of Johan Smal, but Singh’s spot at the top of the order is tough to fill. As against that, the introduction of Lovepreet Padda has added solidity to the top order, but he and the rest of the VRA top six will face a stern test against Brown & Co.

BdJ: VRA may only be providing one player to the Dutch national team this time round, but they’re effectively losing two in Singh, who is both their lead scorer and the league’s lead wicket-taker this season. The runs may be replaceable, Shereyas Potdar has made a case in the twos for the opening slot in Singh’s absence, Jack Cassidy has filled that role in the past, and the existing top order is solid enough on paper. But a ready replacement as seam spearhead is less apparent. Sharad Hake has been more steady than incisive with the new ball, while Ashir Abid has likewise looked a bit off the boil in the seconds – at least when not bowling at Hercules. Singh’s fiver-fer and fifty when the two sides last met pretty much delivered VRA the win single-handed, and it will take a substantial turnaround in form for the Amsterdammers to take the points on Saturday without him.

RL’s picks: HBS, Kampong, Rotterdam, HCC
BdJ’s picks: Voorburg, Kampong, Rotterdam, HCC

Kampong back on top as Voorburg stumble at De Diepput

Rod Lyall 31/05/26

The revolving door at the top of the Topklasse table gave another turn on Saturday, as defeat for Voorburg at De Diepput and a comfortable victory for Kampong over HBS at Maarschalkerweerd enabled the defending champions to regain their one-point lead.

Kampong’s seven-wicket win did not come without a moment of doubt, as after dismissing HBS for 177, Kyle Klein reduced them to 19 for two, with Damien van den Berg and Scott Edwards back in the pavilion.

And when Julien de Mey had Max O’Dowd caught for 16 with the total on 60, the Crows might have been forgiven for thinking that they were back in the game.

That was their last success, however, as first cautiously and then with increasing momentum, Pierre Jacod and Lachlan Bangs added 120 in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand which steered Alex Roy’s side to victory with nearly twenty overs to spare.

Bangs was distinctly the more aggressive, his Topklasse-career-best 86 coming from 60 deliveries with six fours and five sixes, while Jacod ended on a more sedate, but no less crucial 52.

It was a fine all-round performance by Bangs, who had earlier claimed four for 28 in his ten overs, including the vital wicket of Lehan Botha for 27.

Kent Goedeke top-scored for HBS with 37, while Klein chipped in with a useful 33 which ended only when he was run out trying to retain the strike with nine wickets down.

Having dismissed Rotterdam for 120 last Monday, HCC’s bowlers were again in charge against the enigmatic Voorburg at De Diepput, and it was again Josh Brown who was the main wicket-taker, completing his second successive five-wicket haul as Voorburg collapsed to 134 all out as they chased their hosts’ 251 for nine.

Tonny Staal (54) and Shirsak Banerjee (37) gave the Lions a great start with an opening stand of 94, and then Boris Gorlee (38) and Brown (27) were the main contributors as Cedric de Lange celebrated his selection for the Dutch squad for Canada with a career-best five for 38 and Additt Jain cleaned up the tail with three for 61.

But Voorburg were soon in trouble when they replied, Brown removing De Lange and Don Glover in quick succession and then adding the scalp of Michael Levitt, while Daniel Crowley had Noah Croes caught behind.

At 43 for four Voorburg were on the ropes, and Bas de Leede and Ryan Klein doubled the total, once Justin Trijzelaar had removed Klein, Clayton Floyd picked up three for 17 and Brown returned to dismiss Michael Rippon and Jaynul Islam with successive deliveries to finish with five for 44 and complete HCC’s 117-run victory.

The win consolidated the Lions’ position in the top four, but they still trail Kampong, Voorburg and Rotterdam who stayed in second position by virtue of a six-wicket win over VRA in the Amsterdamse Bos.

VRA’s total of 234 for nine was built around opener Vikram Singh’s 91, but apart from Johan Smal with 39 he received too little support from the rest of the batting, and it did not help the home side’s cause that both Smal and Singh were run out.

Six of the Rotterdam bowlers took a single wicket apiece, a combined effort which was able to prevent VRA from setting a really substantial target.

Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas gave their side a valuable start with an opening stand of 90 when Rotterdam replied, and after Minhas had departed for 34, victim of another run-out, and was soon followed by Muhammad Gondal, Musa and Mohsin Riaz added 72 for the third wicket.

Shariz Ahmad struck back, removing first Riaz for 48 and then his elder brother Musa for 80, but debutant Abdul Rehman Niazi and Sikander Zulfiqar knocked off the 43 runs still needed to make sure of victory with seven overs remaining.

Hermes-DVS made short work of VOC Rotterdam at the Loopuyt Oval, bowling them out for 105 and needing only 20.5 overs to make sure of a five-wicket win.

Ralph Elenbaas was the architect of the victory, taking four for 33, with Hikmatullah Jabarkhail claiming three for 2 in nine deliveries to clean up the tail; skipper Jason van der Meulen again top-scored for VOC with 31.

Hermes stuttered slightly in reply, with Roman Harhangi picking off the openers with 32 on the board, and Asief Hoseinbaks then taking three quick wickets to leave the Sky Blues on 75 for five.

Mussayab Jamil and Aryan Dutt, however, then steadied the ship, making sure that Hermes reached their target without further loss.

Preview Round 8

Bertus de Jong &Rod Lyall | 28-05-2026
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May it may still be (though one wouldn’t have guessed it given the sweltering temperatures) but the front-loading of the fifty over competition this season means we’re somehow already at the mid-point of the 2026 Topklasse, and fair to say the competition, too, is heating up. Four rounds in a fortnight has seen early frontrunners RCC stumble and sometime stragglers surge up the table, with both title and relegation races wide open at the half-way stage.

BdJ: After a slow start to the season Voorburg currently have their noses in front, but will face a stern test when they take on HCC at De Diepput. With seven points from their last four matches VCC look the form team in the competition at the minute, with league lead-scorer Cedric de Lange and skipper Noah Croes reliably churning out runs, and the totemic Bas de Leede also in good nick with the bat. Voorburg were pushed hard in most of those games however, and the bowling side of things still looks unsettled. Michael Rippon’s comparatively quiet season so far remains something of a concern, and the new frontrunners still don’t look clear on their best attack. Their opponents meanwhile will be coming off the back of a confidence-boosting win at the Zomercomplex, well in touch with the top of the table. That’s thanks in no small part to the understated return to form of Tonny Staal at the top of the order, reliably chipping in 30s and 40s despite the lack of a settled opening partner. Teun Kloppenburg’s promotion to the role last week was a success in that regard, and on that may be worth persisting with. Their middle order wobble against Rotterdam still betrays a certain vulnerability, and all told an HCC win on Saturday would still be an upset, but perhaps not a shock.

RL: Extraordinarily, Voorburg have fielded twenty players in seven matches, and this might suggesr some uncertainty about the best combination. The core is stable enough, although Mees van Vliet’s nightmare against Kampong (especially in combination with the absence of Jaynul Islam) will be a cause of concern, And with the departure of the national team for Canada looming, Voorburg will suffer a good deal more than most: much of that core will be unavailable for a couple of vital rounds. All the more important, then, that they make sure of the points against HCC, who are clearly emerging as challengers to the top three. The Lions, on the other hand, will be extremely keen to further close the gap on the leaders, and even without the injured Hidde Overdijk and the ill Teun Leijer they have assembled an impressive attack, into which Justin Trijzelaar and Thijs Vrolijk have slotted well. They are certainly capable of unsettling Voorburg’s top order, and they will need to do so if HCC are to take the points.

BdJ: Defending champions Kampong will be poised to take advantage should VCC slip up, but their own fixture against HBS Craeyenhout at Maarschalkerweerd hardly looks the foregone conclusion one might have imagined at the start of the season. While Kampong have stayed within shouting distance of the top spot thanks in large part to a steady bowling unit and the form of Pierre Jacod and Dutch skipper Scott Edwards, they don’t look quite the force they were last season. Meanwhile the Crows have won three from three in their last four games (eliding the incomplete and unresolved unpleasantness at the Zomercomplex) buoyed last week by the return of Heino Kuhn and Roelof van der Merwe to Topklasse competition. While Kuhn didn’t have quite the impact he might have hoped with the bat, van der Merwe certainly did, and if the pair can be called upon more regularly HBS’ prospects look a good deal better, especially given Lehan Botha’s form and the hints that Tayo Walbrugh’s horror early season may be behind him.

RL: With one notable exception neither Damien van den Berg nor Max O’Dowd has been able to give the Kampong innings a decent start, and without last year’s Lane Berry or, at present, the injured Lorenzo Ingram, the top and middle order has looked vulnerable, despite useful contributions from Karel Vieler at three and the dependability of Jacod and Edwards. The bowlers have, as m’colleague says, saved their blushes somewhat, but they will need to get rid of Walbrugh and Botha early if they are to contain an HBS line-up which successfully chased down 282 on Monday. The Crows’ middle-order, with Kent Goedeke and Lucas del Bianco, has been firing well, though, and although their bowling unit was able to make no impression on Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle in that game, they have the potential to trouble Kampong,

BdJ: Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, where Hermes DVS unexpectedly find themselves, the Sky Blues welcome VOC Rotterdam to the Loopuyt Oval. Hermes’ 136-run opening win over the Bloodhounds remains their only victory of the season, though their three-point tally probably isn’t a fair reflection of the quality of the cricket they’ve played. The return to form of the prolific opening pairing of Ostling and Doyle last week just happened to coincide with a sub-par outing for the rest of the order, and that’s arguably been pretty typical of their season so far. VOC meanwhile have been battling commendably throughout and finally found some reward last week with a win over VRA, with young Roman Harhangi and the veteran Ahsan Malik again the stand-outs. Hermes remain much the stronger side on paper, but VOC have been playing closer to potential of late, despite an unsteady early season.

RL: To be fair, the Hermes middle order sacrificed itself on Monday in the search for quick runs, but it’s not the first time the Sky Blues have collapsed after an outstanding start, and with David Rushmere struggling to reproduce his brilliant debut the batting has generally been less than overwhelming. The attack, too, has lacked bite in a season where the batters have generally been in charge, its best effort probably dismissing Voorburg for 228 in a match that was eventually tied. Sahil Kothari and Sebastiaan Braat have been their most successful bowlers, and skipper Braat has made valuable runs as well, but the side will haave to lift itself in the back-half of the season, starting with this must-win game against fellow relegation-candidates VOC. The Bloodhounds pulled off a remarkable last-minute win against VRA, and they will know that a win here would greatly ease those pressures.

BdJ: Finally VRA Amsterdam welcome Rotterdam CC to the Bos, with both sides coming off the back of a tough run of results. Rotterdam’s scarcely believable collective early form with the bat was not enough against Voorburg, and then seemingly deserted them entirely when they were skittled for 120 by HCC on Monday. That said, the fact that their average score batting 50 remains north of 300 will be playing on the minds of a VRA side that gave up 338 against them in the season opener and who themselves have gone winless for four rounds. The Amsterdammers have suffered a series of close defeats despite getting into winning positions, and despite flashes of form from all of the top order it’s been rare for all or even most to fire at once. The bowling also remains a concern, as while league lead wicket-taker Vikram Singh is having a revelatory season with the ball the rest of the attack has looked rather innocuous, leaving a tricky forty overs to fill.

RL: It would be stretching credibility to the limit to suggest that Rotterdam might collapse in a heap two matches in a row, especially since their opposition this week lacks the incisiveness of HCC’s bowling unit. For Musa Ahmad, Shoaib Minhas and Mohsin Riaz to assemble ten runs between them is close to unheard of, and it’s a lot to ask of VRA’s new-found spearhead Vikram Singh to repeat that blitz. But VRA are something of an enigma: with the introduction of Lovepreet Padda and the return of Johan Smal the batting looks a lot more solid, but the side has displayed a notable ability to conjure defeats from winning situations, and they will really need to cast off that tendency if they are to get their campaign back on track. With only two partnerships of 75+ in seven matches, their batting has been as vulnerable as their bowling; Rotterdam, at the other end of the scale, have had seven, in six completed innings.

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BdJ’s picks: Voorburg, Kampong, Hermes, Rotterdam
RL’s picks: Voorburg, HBS, Hermes, Rotterdam.

HCC shock Rotterdam, but Voorburg back on top

Rod Lyall 26/05/26

The title race tightened appreciably on the Pentecost holiday on Monday, as the leadership again changed hands and HCC reinforced their claims with a decisive victory over early leaders Rotterdam.

At Maarschalkerweerd in Utrecht, Voorburg proved too strong for home side Kampong, dismissing them for 190 and going on to win by six wickets.

After winning the toss and electing to bat Kampong were never really in charge, off-spinner Cedric de Lange reducing them to 117 for six with a career-best spell of four for 18 in ten overs.

Robert van der Harten, Tushar Sharma and Alex Roy were able to achieve a partial recovery, adding 73 to the total for the last four wickets, but with Aaditt Jain returning to claim three for 25 the Utrecht side faced an uphill struggle against Voorburg’s powerful batting.

After the early loss of Damien van den Berg, De Lange and Noah Croes, both of whom made 61, joined forces in a second-wicket stand of 124, and with Bas de Leede contributing a 24-ball 26, all but two of those runs in boundaries, Voorburg eased home with 15 overs to spare, leapfrogging their opponents to return to the top of the table.

The sensation of the day came at the Zomercomplex, the shock being not so much that HCC were able to beat Rotterdam but the completeness of a batting side which had until now seemed to regard 300 as a par score.

Daniel Crowley started the rout by removing openers Shoaib Minhas and Musa Ahmad inside the first eight overs, and despite Muhammad Gondal’s 44 and an aggressive 35 from Saqib Zulfiqar, the Rotterdammers were all out for 120 in 30.4 overs, Josh Brown cleaning up the lower order to finish with five for 36.

With Teun Kloppenburg hammering a 36-ball 65, including five fours and as many sixes, the Lions raced to 99 without loss in twelve overs, but when Sikander Zulfiqar removed him and Boris Gorlee with successive deliveries the chase suddenly faltered.

Zulfiqar added the scalp of Tonny Staal five runs later, and with Minhas bowling three straight maidens from the other end, picking up Brown’s wicket in the process, the game seemed to be swinging Rotterdam’s way.

Minhas now removed Clayton Floyd as well, but Zac Worden and Yash Patel knocked off the remaining runs without further mishap, Zulfiqar finishing with three for 36 and Minhas a remarkable two for 2 from 24 deliveries.

Extraordinary as this was, there was real drama later in the day as the two matches pitting the bottom four sides against each other turned out to be real thrillers, the two bottom teams recording vital last minute victories.

The day had begun very well for HermesDVS, for whom openers Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle posted a club-record-equalling stand of 207 against HBS before Doyle was run out for 95 attempting a quick single to Heino Kuhn.

Ostling was then LBW to Kent Goedeke for 94, and at 230 for two with less than seven overs remaining, the Hermes middle order sacrificed wickets in the quest for as many runs as possible, Benno Boddendijk collecting three for 46 as Sebastiaan Braat made an unbeaten 28 and 52 were added.

This seemed likely to be too much for HBS, and although Tayo Walbrugh contributed 37 at 116 for five after 25 overs Hermes could have been forgiven for thinking that the points were theirs.

But Roelof van der Merwe now joined Lehan Botha, who was on 47, and together they added 152 in 23 overs, Botha needing just 42 deliveries to go from 50 to 100 as the tempo steadily accelerated.

Ten balls were remaining when Dutt finally bowled Botha for 132, made from 122 deliveries with 14 fours and one six, but the HBS pair had reduced the demand to just 15.

They still needed 11 as Hikmatullah Jabarkhail began the final over, but Van der Merwe and Reece Mason were equal to the task, Mason taking the winning single with one ball to spare, Van der Merwe remaining not out on 70.

Meanwhile in the Amsterdamse Bos, VRA were in pursuit of VOC Rotterdam’s total of 219 all out.

The Rotterdammers had recovered somewhat from 128 for six, Ethan Price making 43, Ahsan Malik 44 not out, and last man Ludwig Spies an enterprising 20, but Vikram Singh has taken his season’s tally to 23 wickets with four for 35, and Udit Nashier had collected three for 26.

VOC’s five-man seam attack reduced VRA to 67 for four when they replied, but with Teja Nidamanuru playing a vintage captain’s innings, well supported by Shariz Ahmad, they appeared to be on the brink of victory at 216 for seven.

Then Roman Harhangi, returning to the attack, turned the game on its head: first Darsh Abhinay was caught by Ludwig Spies, and then Adam Madgwick was trapped in front first ball.

That left Nidamanuru on 92 to face Ahsan Malik with four still needed, knowing that last man Shayan Moodley was at the other end.

He tried to hit Malik’s first delivery to the long on boundary, but succeeded only in finding the fielder at deep mid-on, who completed a sprawling catch to give VOC a sensational three-run victory.

Kampong back on top as Voorburg and Hermes tie

Rod Lyall 24/05/26

A tied cricket match tends to raise the question of whether it involves a point gained or a point lost, not only in terms of the course of the game itself, but also with respect to the teams’ respective positions in the competition. And sometimes these two considerations can lead to opposite conclusions.

Saturday’s encounter between Voorburg and Hermes-DVS at Westvliet was no exception: on the run of play, Voorburg could take some satisfaction from the fact that they had avoided defeat after posting a relatively modest 228 all out, but the point dropped leaves them at a slight disadvantage compared to their main rivals for the Topklasse title.

Conversely, every point matters for Hermes as they try to stay clear of the league’s one relegation spot, but they will regret not having taken full advantage of their bowlers’ efforts in keeping Voorburg’s batting within bounds.

That Voorburg, having won the toss, reached 228 was largely due to half-centuries by Noah Croes (59) and Ryan Klein (61), although after they lost four wickets for just five runs towards the end of the innings they were rescued by a last-wicket stand of 36 between dubutant Tanveer Khawaja and last man Jaynul Islam.

Much of the damage was caused by spinner Hikmatullah Jabarkhail, who picked up four for 49.

Islam then removed Ash Ostling with the fourth ball of Hermes’ reply, but 36 from Daniel Doyle and 44 from David Rushmere before he fell to a stunning catch by Klein at point – mirroring an equally remarkable effort by Sebastiaan Braat to remove Croes – took them at 117 for four at the halfway point of their innings.

But then Voorburg applied the pressure, and it was left to Olivier Elenbaas, in company for a time with his captain Braat, to steer Hermes towards their target.

Braat departed for 25 with 24 still needed from 26 deliveries, but Islam and Don Glover conceded just 11 from the next two overs, and as Mees van Vliet started the final over Elenbaas and his brother Ralph required eight more for victory.

They managed a string of five singles, then Olivier turned the final delivery to leg and they ran two to level the scores.

Voorburg appealed for a run-out which would have given them victory, and while the not-out decision was being discussed between fielders and umpires the brothers tried running a third; the ball was, however, ruled dead and the tie confirmed, Oliver finishing on 74 not out.

Voorburg’s dropped point enabled Kampong Utrecht to go back to the top of the table by virtue of their 82-run victory over HCC at De Diepput.

Their total of 232 for seven was built on a steady 63 from Pierre Jacod and an unbeaten 90 from Scott Edwards, who between them rescued their side from a perilous 74 for four; dropping Edwards down to six proved a wise move, as he plundered 22 from the last two overs of the innings, undoing much of the good work of HCC’s pace trio of Josh Brown (three for 29), Thijs Vrolijk and Justin Trijzelaar.

Kampong’s new-ball pairing of Shashank Kumar and Alex Roy, however, ensured that the Lions’ reply never really got off the ground, taking four for 35 and three for 13 respectively, and it took an unbeaten 36 from Brown to get their total up to a still-disappointing 150.

Still one win behind the leaders pending a decision on the outcome of their abandoned match against HBS, Rotterdam posted their fourth 300-plus total of the campaign against Rotterdam rivals VOC, although it seemed for much of their innings that they would have to settle for a good deal less.

Their innings was transformed by skipper Sikander Zulfiqar who, coming in at 94 for four with 27 overs left, pulverised a tiring VOC attack and smashed an 84-ball 126 which included nine fours and five sixes.

He was initially supported by Mohsin Riaz, who made 63 from 65 deliveries, but thereafter it was largely a solo effort which put the target well beyond VOC’s reach.

Their reply began promisingly with a 97-run opening stand between Samir Butt (51) and Caleb Montague (44), but once they were dismissed the innings fell away in the face of Rotterdam’s spinner, Musa Ahmad claiming four for 29 and Muhammad Gondal and Saqib Zulfiqar picking up two apiece, and they were all out for 202.

VOC’s position at the foot of the table was exacerbated by HBS Craeyenhout’s four-wicket victory over VRA.

The Amsterdammers made 261 all out, opener Vikram Singh making 52 and Johan Smal, back from injury, celebrating with an 85-ball 88; for the home side seamer Benno Boddendijk took four for 51 and spinner Kent Goedeke three for 44.

The Crows’ batting has not always been completely convincing this season, but here Lehan Botha belted a characteristic 25-ball 40, and then Goedeke and Lucas del Bianco added exactly 100 for the fourth wicket in 19 overs to keep their side in the hunt.

Goedeke eventually fell to Shariz Ahmad after making 82 from 69 deliveries with six fours and four sixes, but Del Bianco continued, and he and Kyle Klein put on 57 for the sixth wicket and carried HBS to within a couple of runs of victory.

Del Bianco ended on 61 not out as HBS won with 21 deliveries to spare.

There will be a further round of matches – the last of the first half of the campaign – on Monday’s Pentecost holiday.