Author: tkcricket

Rod Lyall 04/07/24

And so we reach the first of two weekends in which the stagger will unwind, and by the end of it some teams will only have two first-phase matches left to play. With eight teams at least in with a shout of a top-six place – winless ACC are firmly rooted at the foot of the table and Hermes-DVS, though not yet arithmetically out of the running, have left themselves a huge amount to do – this week’s double-headers are certain to have a huge influence on the table. Not to mention the fact that Saturday brings us the first 50-over Schiedam derby for seven years. We can only hope that the threatened rain on Saturday doesn’t put a dampener on proceedings.

After two lethal performances with the ball in their last two games, Excelsior ’20 go into their meeting with neighbours Hermes-DVS at the latter’s Loopuyt Oval riding high, sitting in fourth spot and facing matches against the two bottom sides this weekend. But derbies like this have a way of bringing the unexpected, and Roel Verhagen’s side will be a lot less comfortable about the recent performances of their batting than those of the attack. Jason Ralston is the competition’s leading wicket-taker by a distance, while Lorenzo Ingram’s career-best effort against Sparta last Saturday should serve as a stark warning to opposing batters. With the Elenbaas brothers and Sebastiaan Braat, though, Hermes have a useful pace attack of their own, and a top order which certainly has the potential to blunt the edge of Excelsior’s bowling.

Having dealt with the local rivalry on Saturday, Hermes will then entertain VRA Amsterdam on Sunday in the game which should have been their season’s opener. They will go into the weekend knowing that they need to secure at least two points out of four if they are to have any chance of making the top six, although in truth their first priority is no doubt to stay well clear of relegation. The Amsterdammers were unable to defend 306 last week, though to be fair the Loopuyt Oval is unlikely to replicate the extreme batter-friendly conditions which saw Voorburg top order run riot. If Elijah Eales is back in the VRA side they will have an attack which will test the Hermes batting to the maximum, while their batting line-up is also full of menace.

Excelsior also have a double-weekend, returning to Thurlede on Sunday for their postponed match against ACC. With a batting side which has failed against less imposing attacks than the Schiedammers’, ACC have every reason to face Ralston, Blankestijn, Ingram and Co. with trepidation, and it will be vital for them to find a way of neutralising that threat if they are to have any chance of rehabilitating their season. Having been bowled out cheaply elsewhere in Schiedam last week, the Amsterdammers won’t relish a return visit to take on a rampant Excelsior, but if their own spearhead, Guy Sheena, is able to put the home side’s batting under pressure they might give themselves a chance of recording their first 50-over win of the season.

On Saturday, ACC will have faced a tough challenge, at home to a Voorburg side which is naturally looking a lot stronger with the return of its international stars. Admittedly their bowlers conceded a motza of runs against VRA last week, but that was attributable more to the nature of the pitch and outfield rather than to any deficiency in the attack, as Michael Levitt, Gavin Kaplan and Noah Croes went on to demonstrate as they guided their team to a seven-wicket victory. The difference between that experience in the Bos and playing at Het Loopveld is approximately comparable to that between a Ron Blauw meal and a plate of bitterballen, but this may give ACC their best chance of pulling off a shock victory. Failing that, you have to think that the sheer class of a team which includes four full internationals and four youth internationals is likely to prevail. After all, ACC have yet to pass 150 in four attempts, and they are in serious need of the order of partnership in which Voorburg have been specialising.

On the other side of Amstelveen on Saturday, VRA take on a VOC Rotterdam outfit who need to come back strongly after last Sunday’s defeat by HBS if they are to maintain their claim to a spot in the championship play-offs. The Bloodhounds have taken their matches down to the wire too often for their supporters’ comfort, but perhaps even more concerning with the lack of discipline with the bat as they fell away from a winning position at Craeyenhout. They were, of course, missing the injured Jock McKenzie, and they will have been heartened by Mussayab Jamil’s display of calculated aggression in the middle order. But they will need to be at their absolute best with both bat and ball if they are to get the better of a VRA side which combines quality, fast-scoring batters with an attack which has both effective pace and plenty of spin options.

Having reinforced their position near the top of the table against VOC, HBS Craeyenhout are again at home on Saturday, taking on Sparta 1888. With Tayo Walbrugh back to something like his best form with the bat, Matthew de Villiers providing allround value and pacemen Kyle Klein and Benno Boddendijk taking wickets, the Crows need a couple more wins to make absolutely sure of their place in the top six, but they, like their main rivals, will also be looking to take as many points as possible into the second phase. Sparta have an outside chance of squeezing into the championship pool as well, but they will need to win at least one of their two matches this weekend to keep those hopes alive, and they will be concerned about the inability of their top order to give the side a strong platform. Riley Mudford began the T20 campaign with a bang, but he has yet to make an impact on the 50-over competition, and no-one has shown much consistency – although the return of Will Clark gave some solidity against Excelsior until Ingram came on and Sparta’s wheels fell off.

Perhaps the most intriguing encounter of Saturday’s round is that between Punjab-Ghausia and HCC at Het Zomercomplex, and not only because it involves Jonathan Vandiar facing his former teammates. Back at the top of the table after their comprehensive dismissal of ACC last week, Punjab look like a very strong combination, the more so with Saqib Zulfiqar back from international duty, but the Lions, despite the absence of a couple of key players in Tonny Staal and Hidde Overdijk, showed against Hermes something like the form which took them to grand final in each of the last two seasons. Their bowling was particularly impressive, while the return of Teun Kloppenburg has clearly heightened the hitting power of the middle order. Punjab, though, have sufficient depth in both departments to see them through pretty much any crisis, and although the HCC overseas, Conor McInerney (newly confirmed in South Australia’s State squad), Jed Wiggins and especially Adam Leonard, have had their moments, they have not yet fired all together. When they do, there will be fireworks.

Sparta will again be in Residence City on Sunday, taking on HCC at De Diepput, and here most of the big guns will be on the Lions’ side. On the other hand, we should say a word in favour of Sparta’s bowling, which has so far performed far more creditably than their batting. Seamers Khalid Ahmadi, Martin Snoep and Cameron Fraser have all been among the wickets, with spin back-up from Umar Baker and Manminder Singh, and Sparta’s chances of taking something back to Capelle with them may depend on their ability to contain HCC’s powerful but not yet consistent batting. The big question, though, is whether Sparta’s top six can produce enough runs, whether setting or chasing, to give them an edge.

Just my picks this week, m’colleague being otherwise engaged:

Saturday: Excelsior, Voorburg, VRA, HBS, Punjab.

Sunday: VRA, Excelsior, HCC.

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 27/06/2024

Last week’s full round of Topklasse fixtures produced, at least for the present, a very crowded table, with seven teams clustered within two points of each other (although with varying numbers of games played), and two more just a point or two behind. Although this Saturday notionally sees round 6, some sides have only played three matches, so assessing the standings is a bit like trying to figure out who’s leading an 800 meter race before the stagger unwinds. And last week’s results didn’t help much, either, although they did confirm that ACC will have a big fight on their hands to climb out of the relegation zone.

RL: Unbeaten VRA Amsterdam, having demolished HCC last week, return to the Bos to take on defending champions Voorburg in what promises to be one of the most significant matches of the round. With returning internationals Teja Nidamanuru and Vikram Singh now combining with Johan Smal, the chief contributor to their decent total against HCC, the VRA batting line-up looks remarkably strong, as it will need to be against a varied Voorburg attack. Neither top order, in fact, has been as consistent as its credentials on paper might suggest, but it is the champions who have so far relied very heavily on a single big partnership to boost their total. Still and all, the emergence of Ryan Klein as a powerful No. 5 is a real bonus, as is the growing role of Michael Molenaar as an allrounder. That said, it’s VRA’s pace attack which, on present evidence, is the more menacing of the two, and after last week’s disappointment against Punjab, Voorburg will need to be at their best to get the better of their hosts.

BdJ: There’s plenty of open questions around what indeed looks a potentially key match for both sides at the Bos, not least what sort of surface they’ll be playing on given the transitional custodial situation at VRA this week. It looks an inopportune juncture for VCC’s troubled top order to play themselves into form however, with the host’s bowling attack, already looking in fine rhythm, currently honing their skills across the border in Germany. Despite the emergence of a slew of promising youngsters at Westvliet, VCC look aside that may need another season to recover from the recent winter exodus, while VRA’s new-look first team seem to be hitting their stride.

RL: Level on points with the leaders but having played two more games, Punjab-Ghausia are also at home this week, taking on current wooden-spooners ACC at the Zomercomplex. It’s imperative for the Amsterdammers that they don’t let the gap at the foot of the table grow any bigger, but Punjab at home are never an easy proposition, and with their home-grown crop yet to make a significant contribution ACC will need strong contributions from their overseas contingent, Van der Merwe, Sheena and Sayed, if they are to threaten Sikander Zulfiqar’s side. For them, a century by Mohsin Riaz, a near-miss by Saqib Zulfiqar on his return from World Cup duty, and fifties for Shoaib Minhas and Jonathan Vandiar demonstrate the power of their top order, only Musa Ahmad yet to get past fifty. Punjab’s attack, moreover, seems well suited to exploiting the fragility of the ACC’s top five, and it would be one of the biggest shocks of the season were the Amsterdammers to head back north with the points.

BdJ: While they may find themselves at opposite ends of the table for now, both ACC and Punjab will be looking in the same direction at this point – namely down. For ACC the looming threat of relegation will be the principle focus, while Punjab have two losses against them and can ill-afford another at home to the league’s whipping boys if they’re to mount a serious challenge this season. It would indeed be the upset of the round if not the whole summer should ACC take two points back North on Saturday. The ACC top-order looks particularly out of their depth thus far, especially in the absence of Heino Kuhn, and without Dosti castaways Rahil Ahmed and Mahesh Hans the Amsterdammers have simply looked out of place in the top flight this year.

RL: Wins last week propelled both Excelsior ’20 and Sparta 1888 into the middle of the table, although the Schiedammers’ destruction of HBS was probably a more notable victory in the longer term than Sparta’s over ACC. Jason Ralston is unlikely to have many better days than he did against the Crows, but Niels Etman and Jens Blankestijn provide a useful foils, and the arrival of Victor Lubbers as a genuine allrounder gives skipper Roel Verhagen plenty of options. There are, perhaps, more questions about the Schiedammers’ batting, especially in the middle order, and in Cameron Fraser, Khalid Ahmadi and Martijn Snoep Sparta have a seam attack capable of causing their hosts some problems – if they can work their way through Excelsior’s solid-looking top four. Sparta’s own batting hasn’t really fired as yet, and one senses that that might be where this battle centres. But the winner of this encounter will stake a significant claim to a spot in the top six, while the loser may well find themselves dropping back into the relegation zone. So nowhere in this week’s games will the stakes be higher than at Thurlede.

BdJ: While back-to-back wins for both sides in the last couple of weeks may have put worries about relegation to rest for the time being at least, it still looks like the mid-table ain’t big enough for the both of them and which side gets to start setting their sights higher and which needs to start thinking about survival may well be decided at Thurlede on Saturday. For all the pedigree of their top order, Excelsior have had reason to be grateful for the depth that the arrival of Lubbers lends to the batting and a wagging tail of late, with only Tim Etman alone averaging over 30 and Niels Etman outscoring many recognised bats. Verhagen himself seems to have found some form in Germany however, and while Sparta’s seam attack has looked solid they still struggle to find fifty good overs in a game. The spartan trump card remains the destructive Riley Mudford of course, but the big-hitting keeper-bat has yet to replicate his short format form in the 50-over comp, and Sparta’s fans may be beginning to wonder how deep a hole that particular ace is hiding in.

RL: HBS Craeyenhout, back on their own astroturf to face VOC Rotterdam, will need to put last week’s remarkable collapse behind them quickly if they are to return to winning ways. Here, too, both sides need the points to stay with the clustering pack, and both will doubtless again be looking to their overseas contingent to provide a good deal of the muscle. Walbrugh, Botha and De Villiers all had off days for the Crows against Excelsior, leaving Wesley Barresi to fight a rearguard action in company with Julian de Mey, while Schiehout, Bettelheim and even the injured McKenzie proved their worth for VOC. The balance of the sides will be influenced by whether McKenzie is able to play this week, but it’s also significant that the Rotterdammers’ local brigade – especially Jelte Schoonheim and Asief Hoseinbaks – have been able to contribute more to their campaign than the Crows’ equivalents.

BdJ: A remarkable symmetry between the Crows and the Bloodhounds this season indeed, both mired in the mid-table and reliant on their overseas for most all of their runs and a good chunk of the wickets, albeit both boasting some promising youngsters that look at most a season away from being genuine assets. It would be nice to imagine that this weeks encounter will be decided by the efforts of a Boddendijk or a Jain, and indeed it may well be. More likely it’ll be down tom which side’s overseas have the best day out, and it’s a brave man who bets against Walbrugh at Craeyenhout.

RL: The same remark about a quick recovery applies to HCC, who this week face a potentially tricky visit to the Loopuyt Oval to take on Hermes-DVS. Sebastiaan Braat’s side gives the impression of having settled down as a unit more than the Lions, with Ostling, Doyle, Braat himself and the returning Aryan Dutt all weighing in with the bat and an attack spearheaded by the Elenbaas brothers, Braat and Niels Woermeijer, backed up by Murid Ekrami. HCC’s season, of course, has been badly disrupted by the weather, but they will be concerned that no-one has managed more than 36 with the bat in their three matches so far – and that came from bowling allrounder Daniel Crowley. So Boris Gorlee will be keen to step up himself and to get more from the rest of his top five. The bowling has been more effective, it is true, but whether setting or chasing the Lions will need a better start than they have so far been able to achieve.

BdJ: Survival was Hermes’ stated ambition at the start of the season, and despite having picked up just the one win thus far it could be argued they’ve set their sights a little low. While the bowling looked a little light ahead of the season, the efforts of Woermeijer, the brothers Elenbaas and reinforcements from south of the border have kept them competitive even in Dutt’s absence. HCC meanwhile have looked strangely out of sorts this season, for a side that’s maintained a core unit for a half-dozen summers now the Lions nonetheless look oddly incoherent and less than the sum of their parts. On paper the visitors’ extensive top-flight experience ought to make them heavy favourites against the newly-promoted Hermes, but it doesn’t really feel that way two days out.

RL’s picks: VRA, Punjab, Excelsior, VOC, Hermes.

BdJ’s picks: VRA, Punjab, Sparta, HBS, Hermes.

Bertus de Jong 21/06/2024

Four weeks into the wettest season in recent memory we’re still a deal earlier in the competition than we might have hoped, with barely half the scheduled matches thus far actually having been played. The table, consequently, is a trifle messy, and the current pecking order in no small part a reflection of luck with the weather rather than performance.

Current table-toppers HBS Craeyenhout have amassed a total of five points on a 2-1 record plus the point they reluctantly took from the not-uncontroversial wash-out at de Diepput last week, where point were shared owing to HCC having already reached their two match rescheduling limit. They take on Excelsior ‘20 away at Thurlede, the Schiedammers fresh off their first win of the season having held off a spirited VOC fightback last week. That win was set up through the efforts of Jason Ralston with the new ball and Niels Etman at the back end, and as a bowling unit Excelsior look to be coming together nicely though the batting remains a worry. A full strength HBS, with Wes Barresi and Kyle Klein back from the World Cup, will be optimistic about holding on to the top spot for another week at least.

Defending champions Voorburg will likewise be welcoming reinforcements in the form of Vivian Kingma and Michael Levitt, and having gotten through the early season without their internationals with just the one loss will be bullish about their chances of defending their title. They won’t be welcoming back former skipper Sybrand Engelbrecht however, who called time on his cricketing sabbatical last week to concentrate on his career. They take on a Punjab-Ghausia side that may be a little rattled by their shock loss to Sparta last week, but still look capable of providing a stern test for the title-holders despite a disappointing 2-2- record thus far.

Meanwhile the only two unbeaten teams in the competition, HCC and VRA, will meet at de Diepput in hopes of getting a game played where others have failed. HCC are unbeaten thanks in no small part to three abandonments, but even under-strength looked in decent shape in the one game they did get in at Thurlede, young Teun Leijer again impressing with the ball. VRA meanwhile have bagged two wins already despite the absence of internationals Vikram Singh and Teja Nidamanuru, and will back themselves to make it three from three this weekend. An interesting question will be whether Singh returns to his customary opening slot or sticks with the number three role he’s been occupying for the Dutch, allowing the promising experiment of Demari Prince at the top with Shirase Rasool to run a little longer.

Over at Hazelaarweg VOC Rotterdam will welcome their second consecutive delegation from Schiedam in the form of Hermes DVS, but will be hoping for a different outcome from their valiant defeat at the hands of Excelsior. The newly-promoted Hermes already look a handful however, and with the return of Aryan Dutt from national duty could reasonably claim to be favourites. The batting card still looks a tad top-heavy, reliant on Daniel Doyle Calle in particular, but then a dependence on an in-form top order is probably preferable than looking to the lower order to dig you out of trouble, as VOC had to last week. The brothers Jain almost pulled off a remarkable recovery last week, and if the top order finds form the Bloodhounds will boast enviable depth, but another home defeat will make a top-four finish a tall order.

The round’s final fixture pits ACC against Sparta 1888 at Bermweg, and the outcome already looks like it could be crucial to an impending relegation fight. The Amsterdammers especially look destined for a fight to stay up, and with two heavy defeats already weighing down their NRR taking points off Sparta looks almost indispensable to their hopes of top-flight survival. The hosts will be firm favourites however, showing admirable resolve to fight back from 4-40 to put a score of sorts on the board against Punjab before the ever-impressive Khalid Ahmadi and last year’s Team of the Year skipper Martijn Snoep showed their worth with the ball to take two points from a rain-shortened match against Punjab. Indeed on paper the Spartans ought to be at least in contention for a top four spot this season, and a second win might just get their season back on track. Conversely a home loss to the unfancied ACC, one suspects, could send it into a tailspin.

BdJ’s picks: HBS, VCC, VRA, Hermes, Sparta

By a quirk of the schedule in this rain-disrupted competition, this Saturday’s matches pit the current top five sides against those in the lower half of the table, so most of the latter will need to produce a win if they are not to lose further ground on the pace-makers. But the forecast suggests that Messrs Duckworth, Lewis and Stern may get another workout, and we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that at least there will be five completed matches by the end of the day.

RL:  HCC, admittedly, are really only in seventh spot because they’ve played just the one game, their first two fixtures having fallen victim to the weather, and they will be aiming to move up the table when they welcome HBS Craeyenhout to De Diepput. While their bowling was decidedly more impressive than their batting as they demolished Excelsior last week, there’s no doubt they have a well-balanced side, and the way in which young Teun Leijer has slotted into the attack is an encouraging sign for the rest of the season and beyond. But the Crows have shown great early form, with Tayo Walbrugh and Matt de Villiers among the runs, and this game will be a good guide to the true strength of both sides. Once again, it may be the big guns who make the difference: HCC’s trio of overseas played a relatively small part in last week’s victory, but if Conor McInerney and Jed Wiggins come off with the bat then they might just have the edge over an HBS side which battled to contain Voorburg’s batting last Saturday.

BdJ: Indeed given the disparity in games played the table’s far from a fair reflection of the real state of play, and HCC’s win percentage is still 100% from that one game. Nonetheless HBS have looked the better all-round outfit thus far despite their opening loss to Punjab. HCC can afford their local talent in Gorlee and Staal to have a lean period with the bat, or their overseas to have a fallow spell, but not both at once. HBS do look reliant on their hired muscle at the minute though, and may not be too upset at the prospect of an early Dutch exit at the World Cup if it sees Barresi and Klein back in black.

RL:  There will be another such test at Westvliet, where Voorburg will take on a Hermes-DVS outfit still finding their wings in the top flight. The Schiedammers were untroubled in seeing off ACC last week thanks to Ralph Elenbaas’s destructive opening spell, and we can perhaps expect the brothers Elenbaas continuing to share the new ball. But here they will come up against Gavin Kaplan and Noah Croes, both of whom have been scoring heavily, and Hermes will need to get them early if they are to have a realistic chance. They will also need their own top order to fire, with Daniel Doyle, Ashley Ostling and CP Klijnhans facing the challenge of a Voorburg attack which, even without Kingma, Ryan Klein and Van Beek, has fared reasonably well, Mees van Vliet doing the heavy lifting and Michael Molenaar slotting in effectively alongside Floris de Lange. Points against Voorburg while their stars are away are, of course, worth their weight in gold for teams on the fringes of the top six, although Hermes will equally be looking forward to the return of Aryan Dutt. 

BdJ: Voorburg will be another club with mixed feelings about the Netherlands’ likely early return from the other side of the Pond, but fair to say the bench at Westvliet has proved deeper than at some other clubs missing fewer players. The development of both Elenbaas brothers into genuine all-rounders has certainly helped in terms of team balance, but the Schiedammers still look reliant on their top three for runs at this level. While there’s every chance Klijnhans and Doyle-Calle will be able to get on top of a depleted VCC attack, taking three first-choice bowlers out of their line-up doesn’t signal free-runs-day at Westvliet the way it might elsewhere.

RL: Currently fifth by virtue of a victory over Sparta 1888 last week, VOC Rotterdam are at home to Excelsior ’20, who have yet to post a win and will have been disappointed by their collapse against HCC. Strikingly, it’s been Asief Hoseinbaks, Jelte Schoonheim and Arnav Jain who have been the Bloodhounds’ principal wicket-takers, and apart from Jock McKenzie their overseas brigade have so far (which is, of course, not very far) not really lived up to expectations with the bat. Here they will encounter Excelsior spearhead Jason Ralston and an attack which was competent rather than truly threatening at Thurlede last Saturday. By batting Derek Mitchell as an opener Excelsior have exposed their middle order, where the South African was so effective in partnership with Lorenzo Ingram, and having failed to capitalise on a great start against Voorburg and then fallen to bits against HCC, the Schiedammers may need a rethink before taking on VOC. But Ingram is too good a player to stay quiet for long, and Excelsior will hope that he’s able to cash in with either the bat or the ball (and preferably both) against a VOC side which is also battling to cohere as a unit.

BdJ: While it’s understandable that VOC looked to reinforce their batting after the loss of Edwards and O’Dowd to Kampong over the winter, one wonders whether they’d not have done better to pull in a bowler too for the season, with young prospects Aaditt Jain and Roman Harhangi still looking a little raw at senior level. Excelsior meanwhile look a little light on batting, with Ingram’s lack of form with the bat a particular concern in a middle order that’s lent so heavily on him in the past.

RL: The Amsterdam derby, perhaps second only to the Schiedam version among such traditional encounters, is always a big occasion, and it’s VRA’s turn to make the short journey to Het Loopveld this week to take on ACC. Not for the first time, their fortunes this season have been markedly different, the visitors riding high at the top of the table after their Houdini act against Punjab-Ghausia last Saturday and the home side languishing near its foot. Short as the physical distance may be, it’s a far cry from VRA’s turf square in the Bos to ACC’s mat on the other side of Amstelveen, and even without Singh and Nidamanuru stand-in skipper Johan Smal’s side is much stronger on paper than that led by Shreyas Potdar. It was the spin pairing of Clayton Floyd and Shariz Ahmad which made the difference against Punjab, but ACC’s cutting edge comes from Indian overseas Izhaan Sayed, backed up by the spon of Devanshu Arya and Co. VRA, one feels, would have to be well below their best for their hosts to be in with a chance, but stranger things have happened on a ground where runs are never easy to come by.

BdJ: It’s been a long while since ACC have been anything but underdogs when one team or other shuttles up or down the Kalfjeslaan, and despite reinforcement in the form of old Dosti hands they’ve looked out of their depth in the one format where they’ve held onto a place in the top flight. VRA’s new arrivals have rapidly adapted to mat-cricket, perhaps helped by the fact that their home square has been out of commission for much of the season for one reason or another. The short boundaries, verdant outfield and idiosyncratic surface at ‘t Loopveld may be something of a leveller, but it will likely take more than that to tip things in ACC’s favour.

RL: Having suffered their first defeat of the competition at the hands of VRA last Saturday, Punjab-Ghausia Rotterdam travel to the Bermweg to face Sparta 1888. If not quite a full-on derby since Sparta made the move to Capelle a/d IJssel, there’s an element of local rivalry here as well, not to mention another encounter between potential title contenders and a side whose main concern may prove to be relegation avoidance. Punjab will have been encouraged by a more substantial contribution by Jonathan Vandiar against VRA, and their top order of Musa Ahmad, Shoaib Minhas, Mohsin Riaz, Vandiar and Sikander Zulfiqar is as imposing as any in the competition. It’s doubtful whether Sparta have the bowling resources to meet this challenge, although Cameron Fraser looked sharp against VRA and Khalid Ahmadi can be much more effective than we have seen this season. The reverse applies when Sparta bat: they are too dependent on Riley Mudford if they are to post significant totals, and Punjab’s bowling unit combines skilful spin with nagging seam bowling which can frustrate even the best sides.

BdJ: Khalid Ahmadi’s best performances this summer have been in the red of Belgium rather than Sparta, but he remains a potent threat on any surface. At full strength Sparta ought to be a match for most sides on paper, but too often they’re carrying passengers in an increasingly unforgiving environment. Punjab meanwhile have an embarrassment of riches on the batting side at least, and while they may lack a genuine spearhead with the ball they’re rarely short of options. One suspects it would take a red-inker of a day for one or more of the Spartans to put Punjab under pressure at Bermweg come Saturday.

RL’s picks: HCC, Voorburg, VOC, VRA, Punjab.
BdJ’s picks: HBS, Voorburg, VOC, VRA, Punjab.