Author: tkcricket

Edwards century takes Kampong clear

Rod Lyall 01/06/25

Aided by a second defeat for rivals Hermes-DVS, Kampong Utrecht took another big step towards becoming the first side since 1939 to win the championship in their first season after promotion when they defeated VRA in the Amsterdamse Bos on Saturday.

Such an outcome seemed unlikely three overs into the match, when Ben Fletcher and Peter Ruffell had reduced Kampong to 10 for three with Max O’Dowd, Daniel van den Berg and Lane Berry all gone, but the Utrecht side were rescued by a 174-run stand for the fourth wicket between Scott Edwards and Lorenzo Ingram.

On a pitch which gave the bowlers plenty of help Edwards and Ingram refused to panic, holding firm for 38 overs and gradually accelerating the tempo until Ingram lashed out at Leon Turmaine and was caught in the deep for 76.

With the innings now into the final ten overs and Kampong chasing runs, Edwards proceed steadily to his century, from 129 balls, as wickets fell at the other end, but then he too perished, caught by Vikram Singh at long off from the next delivery he faced.

Ruffell and Fletcher were the beneficiaries of the quest for runs, Ruffell collecting five for 44 and his new-ball partner four for 47 as Kampong were all out for 239.

Just how crucial Edwards and Ingram’s partnership had been soon become evident when VRA replied, only Jack Cassidy looking at all at home in the conditions as the home side collapsed to 79 for six.

Ruffell managed some resistance in company with the tail, hitting a 27-ball 31, but with Adam Constant unable to bat after injuring himself in the field the innings closed on 127 for nine, skipper Alex Roy the pick of the bowlers with three for 23 and Lachlan Bangs finishing it off with two for 2 in six deliveries.

Hermes-DVS, meanwhile, were suffering an almost-equally decisive defeat at the hands of fourth-placed Voorburg at Westvliet, the home side’s total of 269 for eight built on half-centuries by Noah Croes and Henry Melville, reinforced by 33 from Carl Mumba and an unbeaten 37 from Udit Nashier.

Sebastiaan Braat had initially removed Gavin Kaplan and Cedric de Lange, and came back to collect two more and finish with four for 67, while Hikmatullah Jabarkhail again proved his value in the middle overs with three for 50, including both Croes and Melville.

Viv Kingma, returning from injury, and Tom de Leede then combined to reduce Hermes to 51 for six, and although Braat, Sahil Kothari and Ralph Elenbaas were able to achieve a partial recovery which limited the net run rate damage, Hermes were all out for 162.

The match at the Bermweg followed a similar pattern, Punjab-Ghausia posting 275 for nine, largely thanks to a 109-run partnership for the third wicket between Musa Ahmad and Mohsin Riaz, and then dismissing Sparta 1888 for 102.

Ahsan Malik again made early inroads, removing Jonathan Vandiar with the third delivery of the match and then adding the scalp of Shoaib Minhas, but Musa and Riaz turned the innings around, Riaz making 55 before he was trapped in front by Max Hoornweg.

Musa went on to 91, and with brothers Saqib and Sikander Zulfiqar contributing 38 and 22 and a 13-ball cameo of 21 from Khurram Shahzad, the defending champions reached the day’s highest total.

To this Sparta had no answer, Sulaiman Tariq producing another of his metronomic spells to claim three for 33 and Saqib Zulfiqar taking three for 6 in 5.1 overs, and although Malik, again batting at three, showed great resilience until he was the last out for a dogged 45.

The side of that defeat saw Sparta slip to the foot of the table, since although VOC also lost, to HBS at Craeyenhout, they put up enough of a battle to edge ahead on net run rate.

With Tim de Kok opting to bat first, VOC owed their total of 179 to a solid 58 from opener Scott Janett, with lesser contributions from Christiaan Oberholzer and Jason van der Meulen, not to mention a valuable last-wicket stand of 27 between Jelte Schoonheim and Roman Harhangi.

That never seemed likely to be enough, however, and although Arnav Jain set the hosts back on their heels by removing both openers with just one run on the board, Tayo Walbrugh and Wesley Barresi effectively sealed the issue with a third-wicket stand of 130.

Barresi made 59, his fourth half-century in seven innings, while Walbrugh went on to an unbeaten 92, batting with Lehan Botha to see his side to a seven-wicket victory with more than 12 overs to spare.

Even more dramatic than Kampong’s recovery in the Amsterdamse Bos was the collapse of Excelsior ‘20 after a truly stunning opening by Sam Rahaley and Roel Verhagen, who took HCC’s attack apart in the first eight overs, only to see the rest of the side collapse from 80 without loss to 150 all out.

Rahaley was particularly destructive, smashing six sixes in his 32-ball 53, three of them off a single Clayton Floyd over, but once the openers had gone Hidde Overdijk produced another superb spell, claiming five for 18 in ten overs with five maidens, and HCC were back in command.

Floyd set up the reply with 33, and then Boris Gorlee and Oliver White put the issue beyond debate with a third-wicket stand of 91, Gorlee adding 51 to his impressive tally for the season and White seeing the Lions home with an unbeaten 40.

The day’s results sees VRA slip from third to seventh in an extremely congested mid-table, with just two points separating them from Voorburg, who have taken over the third spot; Kampong, though, now have clear water at the top, while Sparta and VOC slip further off the pace and Excelsior, in eighth, have a worrying three-point gap opening up between themselves and VRA.

Preview Round 8

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 30/05/2025

Barely time to catch our breath, and we’re thinking about the penultimate round of the first half of the competition. The last two rounds featured (or would have bar the rain) the bottom three slugging it out; Saturday sees the top four matched up in games which could have a big influence on the race to the title. A dry Friday gives us hope that normal service will now be restored.

RL: The first question is whether the VRA ground will have recovered from the week’s rain to allow play to start. The club’s new Australian groundsman Dan Baker has probably learned more in the past few days about the hydrology of the Amstel fenlands than he ever wanted to know, and it can be a nightmare preparing a pitch on one of the world’s lowest-lying first-class grounds. But both hosts VRA and (league- rather than water-) table-topping Kampong will be extremely keen to get a crack at the points here, the visitors to maintain their narrow advantage over Hermes, the hosts to get closer to the leaders. The gap is not yet big enough to get the peloton panicking, but they need to stop it growing any further. And what’s not to relish about Max O’Dowd, Lane Berry and Scott Edwards matched up against Vikram Singh, Johan Smal and Teja Nidamanuru, or indeed the spinners’ battle involving Shariz Ahmad and Leon Turmaine on the one hand, and Lorenzo Ingram and Pierre Jacod on the other?

BdJ: Well I can happily report that Amsterdam is currently experiencing near-perfect pitch-drying conditions, warm sun and above all a very stiff breeze hopefully doing the needful down at the Bos. VRA will hope there’s still something in the wicket for the bowlers tomorrow though, as they’ll be relying on their enviable pace attack – including the national team’s most recent recruit in Ben Fletcher as well as the season’s most successful seamer in Peter Ruffel – to check a belligerent Kampong batting card. Indeed the Kampong top order have been buccaneering in the extreme so far this season, regularly rollicking along at 8s and 9s regardless of the match situation. Their willingness to spend wickets in pursuit of net run rate advantage has paid remarkable dividends so far, indeed it’s the reason they’re currently top of the log, and it’s hard to imagine they’ll moderate their approach in deference to anyone. Whether VRA will be able to take advantage, one suspects, will come down to which side takes their chances when they come.

RL: Having surrendered their unbeaten record on Thursday, Hermes-DVS have a new challenge in the form of a visit to Westvliet to take on fourth-placed Voorburg. The Sky Blues will again be without Daniel Doyle-Calle, currently skippering Spain on their tour to Denmark. Yet while his aggression at the top of the order has been a significant factor in their success so far, it’s been the attack which has been their trump card. They cut through Punjab’s top order in defence of a modest total on Thursday, but couldn’t quite finish the job. They are likely to face similar problems facing Voorburg’s Michael Levitt, Cedric de Lange, Gavin Kaplan, Noah Croes and Henry Melville, and they will need to be at their best if they are to avoid a second successive defeat. Voorburg would move to within a point of their opponents if they beat them here, and all things considered, the Villagers will start as favourites.

BdJ: It’s fair to say that the international schedule hasn’t done Hermes any favours in regards this particular fixture, with Voorburg expected to field a full complement of Dutch internationals while Hermes will be without both their lead scorer and the competition’s joint-lead wicket-taker, with Doyle-Calle away with Spain and now Hikmatullah Jabarkhail called back to Belgium for the Mdina Cup. They do still have the other joint lead wicket taker to call on of course, Sahil Kothari in fine form since coming back over from ACC again. VCC, for their part, will likely be without sometime Zimbabwe international Carl Mumba, who’s understood to be nursing a niggle, but Vivian Kingma is back from injury and indeed looked raring to go ahead of the aborted match at the Bos yesterday, as was Flip Boissevain – the aspiring Kiwi legspinner still about for another week or two at least. All told what already looked a tough double-round for the former table-toppers doesn’t look like getting any easier.

RL: Fifth on the table by virtue of a positive net run rate, HBS will welcome VOC to Craeyenhout, keen to ensure that they don’t slip any further. It’s not yet five to twelve for the Bloodhounds, but the relegation clock is ticking, and every new defeat is a step closer to the sealing of their fate. They put up a dogged fight against HCC on Thursday, and they will need to be at least that determined if they are to get the better of the Crows on their own astroturf. HBS clearly have to make the most of the presence of Wesley Barresi and Kyle Klein before they head across the North Sea, Barresi’s form with the ball as well as the bat one of the encouraging features of their season so far. On the theme of bowling evergreens, Jelte Schoonheim kept his side in the game against HCC, but the future lies with youngsters like Roman Harhangi and Aaditt Jain, while VOC would like to see larger contributions with the bat from Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer, Jason van der Meulen having been forced to largely do it on his own on Thursday.

BdJ: Barresi’s form with bat and ball may turn out to be something of a mixed blessing for HBS given that it’s brought him a national recall, and if the Crows are to be regularly without both Barresi and Klein their prospects suddenly look a bit dicey. At full strength though, they will certainly back themselves at home to a struggling VOC side, albeit one that’s shown a measure of both fight and promise through the season, at least in phases. With Monty Singh away on Danish duty they will likely need at least two of their three overseas to fire in the same game if they’re to bag a desperately-needed second win, and even then just getting off the bottom of the table won’t be enough this season. While the younger generation have done well with the ball for the Bloodhounds this season, for the time being it seems the runs will have to come from either the imports or the old guard, and returns from both have been patchy at best.

RL: How long Excelsior will continue to enjoy the services of their fifth overseas player, Brett Hampton, is uncertain, but they need to build some momentum if they are to escape the dreaded eighth spot, and that path lies through HCC, their hosts at De Diepput on Saturday. Deepwell is traditionally one of the first venues to succumb to bad weather, but a couple of days without rain will hopefully have had their effect. A fine century apart, Antum Naqvi has yet to hit his stride with the bat, and the Schiedammers have not been able to fully capitalise on the good starts they have been given by Sam Rahaley and skipper Roel Verhagen. With Jason Ralston and Jens Blankestijn having collected just 14 wickets between them in the first six matches, the Michelle claimed by young Karson Edward against Sparta will have been especially welcome. Their hosts relied heavily on Oliver White and Josh Brown in their hard-fought victory over VOC on Thursday, and will be looking for a more collective effort on Saturday.

BdJ: Fair to say that both sides have looked rather less than the sum of their parts so far this season, with HCC’s blowing hot and cold with bat and ball so far, while most of the Excelsior side have put in at least one excellent individual performance at this point, they’ve tended to come in isolation, and consequently in a losing cause more often than not. HCC, for their part, will be encouraged to have picked up two more points yesterday even without runs from the mercurial Boris Gorlee, and a return to home matting may well augur a resumption in the flow of runs from his bat if the pattern holds. While there is of course a limit to how much confidence one can draw from a nervy victory against last-placed VOC, I’d be minded to go with home advantage here too.

RL: It was the discipline of Punjab-Ghausia’s bowling unit which was the foundation for their defeat of Hermes, economical spells from Suleiman Tariq and Khurram Shahzad paving the way for Burhan Niaz’s sharp assault, with Tehzeeb Haider proving himself a useful addition. But the batting remains more fitful than it was last year, with Mohsin Riaz distinctly its most consistent member. That will give Sparta 1888 some hope as they welcome the defending champions to the Bermweg, but form suggests that the outcome will be another in their sequence of gallant defeats. For Punjab, victory would reinforce their position in the mid-table, while another loss would leave their hosts dangerously isolated, along with VOC, at the foot of the table. Khalid Ahmadi’s hat-trick on Thursday came too late to make a real difference, but Juandre Scheepers’ rearguard action with the bat argues that if he, Kyle Klesse and Lukas Boorer make runs together, the Spartans could post a total which would test Punjab’s slightly fragile top order.

BdJ: It’s worth noting, of course, that both sides will be without the bowlers that bagged 4-fers yesterday, with Ahmadi and Niaz both on international duty with Belgium. Yet while neither side have really impressed with the ball thus far it’s probably fair to say the Punjab have deeper reserves to draw on, especially with Saqib Zulfiqar making a tentative return to bowling yesterday. As unconvincing as their title defence has been so far, the underlying quality in the under-performing Punjab top order is not to be underestimated, with each of the top six having multiple Topklasse hundreds to their name. The current Sparta top order, conversely, have not a one between them. One expects the Punjab batting to at least revert to something closer to their prolific mean at some point in the season, and though it may not necessarily be tomorrow, it’s difficult to see Sparta posting anything that would be beyond the title holders.

RL’s picks: Kampong, Voorburg, HBS, HCC, Punjab
BdJ’s picks: VRA, Voorburg, HBS, Excelsior, Punjab

Kampong edge past Hermes to top the table

Rod Lyall 30/05/25

There were small but significant shifts at both the top and bottom of the Topklasse table after Thursday’s rain-affected Ascension Day round, tremors rather than earthquakes, but enough to cause alarm in at least some clubhouses two matches short of the halfway point.

Not the least meaningful outcome was in the Amsterdamse Bos, where not a ball was bowled, the effects of the morning’s rain leaving the pitch unplayable, frustrating VRA and Voorburg, and forcing them to settle for a point apiece.

This opened up a three-point gap between them and the two leaders, although the damage was curtailed to some extent by the news from Rotterdam’s Zomercomplex, where Hermes-DVS suffered their first defeat of the season, at the hands of defending champions Punjab-Ghausia.

Put in to bat in a match reduced to 40 overs a side and with opener Daniel Doyle-Calle on international duty with Spain, Hermes found runs elusive against a parsimonious Punjab attack, before Burhan Niaz grabbed four quick wickets at a cost of 38 runs to reduce them to 61 for four.

That brought together veteran Nick Statham and the club’s new recruit Mussayab Jamil, who proceeded to add 93 for the fifth wicket in just over 16 overs, Jamil’s 52 his second half-century in the top flight and Statham’s unbeaten 67 his 70th in 477 innings, seven of those converted into centuries.

Hermes closed on 184 for seven, and with half Punjab’s batters out and 101 still needed, the leaders seemed to have given themselves a chance of retaining their unbeaten record.

The defending champions, however, were rescued by Mohsin Riaz and Niaz, who put on 72 for the sixth wicket before Niaz was run out for 41.

Riaz continued in company with Fawad Shinwari, making 63 not out and steering the side to a four-wicket victory with 14 deliveries remaining.

Hermes’ place at the top of the table was taken, albeit only on net run rate, by Kampong, who eked out a three-wicket victory over HBS Craeyenhout in a match reduced to 45 overs.

On a day when most skippers chose to bowl, Tayo Walbrugh took the bold step of electing to bat, and it seemed to be paying off when his side had reached 161 for three with eight overs remaining, Walbrugh himself having contributed 40 of them before he was trapped in front by Pierre Jacod.

But then Akhil Gopinath bowled Lehan Botha, leaving Wesley Barresi to work with the lower middle order, and Lorenzo Ingram took over, removing first Barresi for 45 and then three more to finish with four for 38.

The last six HBS wickets fell for just 14 runs, and with the side all out for 197 the bowlers were left with the extremely difficult task of removing Kampong’s powerful top order.

This they did reasonably effectively, and when the home side were on 87 for five, with O’Dowd, Van den Berg, Berry, Ingram and Bangs all back in the dug-out, the Crows were in with a real chance.

This brought Jacod in to join Scott Edwards, and this pair swung the match back Kampong’s way with a 94-run stand for the sixth wicket, and although Julien de Mey had Edwards caught behind for 49, soon trapping Alex Roy leg-before as well, Jacod saw the side home, finishing with an unbeaten 67.

Barresi’s three for 28 were the best figures for HBS, 13 of the 17 wickets to fall in the match captured by the spinners.

Fielding no fewer than five overseas players, another escalation in the Topklasse Arms Race, Excelsior ‘20 proved too strong for Sparta 1888 at Thurlede, winning their 43-over match by 53 runs, but the Spartans lived up to their name by battling hard against the odds.

It took a 49-ball knock of 67, including five sixes, from New Zealander Brett Hampton to get Excelsior up to the day’s highest total of 234, but it was a Dutch-produced youngster, Karson Edward, who administered the final blows, taking three wickets in five balls to end Sparta’s chase on 181, finishing with five for 11.

Earlier, Raynard van Tonder had anchored the first part of the Excelsior innings with a steady 54, while Khalid Ahmadi delivered the season’s third hat-trick, removing Niels Etman, Jason Ralston and Edward with successive deliveries to finish with four for 29.

Promoted to three, Ahsan Malik contributed 33 to Sparta’s reply, but the best partnership of the innings was 65 for the fifth wicket between Lukas Boorer (32) and Juandre Scheepers, who remained not out on 54.

Sparta remain narrowly ahead of current wooden-spooners VOC Rotterdam, who also fought hard all the way but eventually lost to HCC by 24 runs in the only game where overs were not deducted.

HCC’s innings sputtered along to 211 all out, mostly thanks to a solid 60 from Oliver White and a valuable 29 from Hidde Overdijk, while for VOC Jelte Schoonheim claimed three for 43, including a fine reactive return catch to remove Mark Wolfe (24).

Bowling honours, though, went to Aaditt Jain, who after claiming the early wicket of Clayton Floyd came back to pick up three more, finishing with four for 44; his brother Arnav finished wicketless, but his ten overs conceded only 18 runs, a nagging stint which maintained the pressure on the Lions’ batters.

That VOC came so close to their target was due to an aggressive 71 in 60 deliveries from Jason van der Meulen, who shared half-century partnerships with Christiaan Oberholzer (21) and Tim de Kok (26), but HCC’s overseas pair of White and Josh Brown kepttaking wickets, finishing with four for 27 and three for 31 respectively, and keeper Wolfe helped out with two catches and two smart stumpings.

Preview Round 7

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 27/05/2025

Last Saturday’s wetwash has left things pretty much as they were, although some teams will doubtless be regretting a lost opportunity to steal a march on their nearest rivals. But it now appears that the rainy season has finally arrived in the Netherlands, and our Ascension Day previews are written in the full awareness that Thursday may turn into a Descension Day instead. Since there are enough imponderables already without taking the weather into consideration, what follows assumes that there’s a match-sized gap in the eastward-flowing bands of rain.

RL: Still unbeaten, leaders Hermes-DVS face a tricky trip to the ironically-named Zomercomplex to take on Punjab-Ghausia. These two sides have had contrasting campaigns so far: Hermes, short on big names, have gone on winning thanks to determined team efforts and a remarkably effective attack, while Punjab, with most of the team which carried all before it last season, have struggled. Injuries undoubtedly haven’t helped, and they will be overjoyed to have Saqib Zulfiqar back in the side, especially if he is now fully fit. But the absence of his brother Sikander from the attack has perhaps been an even greater loss of cutting edge, and Punjab will be hoping that bolstering the attack with Tehzeeb Haider will make a difference to their fortunes. Hermes, on the other hand, will know that the men in green are always a tough proposition at the Zomercomplex, and will be looking to their bowlers, who until now have equally been without Oliver Elenbaas but have prospered nevertheless, to contain a potentially devastating top order.

BdJ: An away trip to visit the defending champions will be a significant hurdle if Hermes are to continue their remarkable unbeaten run, even if Punjab have looked off the boil all season. Both the remaining Zulfiqars are expected to play on Thursday too, both having got game time during last week’s pro-series fixtures, though Sikander notably wasn’t bowling and didn’t look at his quickest between the wickets either. With the Belgian national team in action this weekend Punjab will likely also have to do without the services of Burhan Niaz for one if not both of their upcoming games, leaving their seam attack looking still thinner. Hermes’ losses to international duty will hit even harder, however. With Daniel Doyle-Calle captaining the Spanish 50-over side in Denmark and Hikmatullah Jabarkhail headed to the Mdina Cup with Belgium, the front-runners will be losing both their lead scorer and the league’s leading wicket-taker for their trips to the Zomercomplex and then Westvliet. If they can make it through the extended week-end with their lead intact they may seriously start thinking about silverware, but it’s fair to say the odds are against them.

RL: Leading the chase, Kampong Utrecht will welcome HBS Craeyenhout to Maarschalkerweerd for what will be another crucial match for both teams. Just one match behind the leaders, Alex Roy’s men (a) need to prevent the gap from getting any bigger, and (b) will be keen to capitalise fully on the availability of their internationals while they have them. The Crows are likely less affected by the latter, although Kyle Klein is a key member of their line-up, but for them the former is even more significant, since they are already four points off the pace and another defeat would leave them fighting for the best possible place mid-table. Significant as O’Dowd and Edwards are for Kampong, the club made the most of their winter, and Lane Berry, Lorenzo Ingram and Lachlan Bangs, alongside Damien van den Berg, give the Utrecht side a top six as menacing as any in the competition. HBS, it’s true, are very good at making the most of what they have, and no team which includes Klein, Tayo Walbrugh, Wes Barresi and Lehan Botha can be written off. Kampong will need to be at their very best to make sure of the points.

BdJ: Given the availability issues that Kampong are likely to encounter deeper into the season, they can ill afford to drop points when they are at full strength, much less at home. HBS have always been stronger on their own (lack of) turf, and have yet to pick up a win on a natural wicket this season. The Crows have struggled to shake a reputation as mat-specialists in a competition where grass wickets are becoming the norm, and indeed have only won four matches on turf in the past three years. That said, three years and a day ago they did take two points home from Maarschalkerweerd, albeit against a very different Kampong side. The current HBS squad is less a product of Craeyenhout than previous seasons too, and one which on paper might be expected to travel better. All told an upset is not out of the question, though if it does happen one imagines Kyle Klein will have a key role in it.

RL: Currently third and fourth on net run rate, VRA and Voorburg will lock horns in the Amsterdamse Bos in what is undoubtedly one of the day’s four-pointers. Again, one tends to think first of the big names – Singh, Smal, Nidamanuru and Shariz for the home side, Levitt, Kaplan, Croes and perhaps Boissevain for the visitors – but games like this are often swung by the contributions of their team-mates, and Voorburg will be boosted by the performances so far of Cedric de Lange and, more recently, Patient Charumbira. The occasion will also be enlivened by the return to the Bos of Udit Nashier, yet to fit fully into his new outfit but capable of making a significant impression. For VRA, the new-ball attack of Ben Fletcher and Peter Ruffel is likely to be a key factor, although the spin of Shariz and Leon Turmaine can’t be discounted either. The winner here will stay in the hunt for the championship, while life will become much, much harder for whoever drops the points.

BdJ: It’s not been a great season so far for recent champions, and neither VRA (whose memories of 50-over silverware are admittedly somewhat distant now) nor 2023 winners Voorburg have looked their best this season. Voorburg’s enviable batting line-up has been let down somewhat by a bowling unit unsettled by availability and injury issues, and those issues are likely to continue. If they can squeeze another weekend out of Boissevain before he has to go back to New Zealand to make his days as a local there it would certainly be a boon, but one suspects the timer’s already buzzing on that front too. VRA’s bench strength has served them somewhat better, with the likes of Turmaine, Hake or Abhinay stepping up admirably when called up from the seconds, while the front-line seam attack of Fletcher, Ruffel and Abid has been consistently effective. The battle at the top of VCC’s innings where that trio are pitted against the competitions’ most productive opening pair may well prove decisive.

RL: Perhaps even more important for both teams, the meeting between Excelsior ‘20 and Sparta 1888 at Thurlede brings together two sides desperate to move clear of the depths of the relegation zone. Sparta’s keenness to get a crack at VOC last Saturday was very obvious, and no-one perhaps had more reason to be disappointed by the arrival of the rain. At least on paper, Excelsior are a much more serious proposition, with Raynard van Tonder and Antum Naqvi capable of scoring freely against any attack. The local players, too, have chipped in usefully at times, and one has a sense that if they put it all together they could ease clear of the danger zone. Sparta, by contrast, have become skilled at making the most of relatively limited resources, and in Ahsan Malik they still have a pace bowler with match-winning capabilities. The batting has so far been over-dependent on Kyle Klesse, but Juandre Scheepers proved last year that he, too, is able to play important innings, and if ever there was a must-win fixture, this is it.

BdJ: Excelsior had assembled a remarkable roster for the washed-out Schiedam Derby last week, with not only van Tonder and Naqvi lining up but Brett Hampton also ready to take the field in the game that never came, they’re unlikely to look as strong again however. Hampton will presumably be back at Hampshire come Thursday, and there’s questions hanging while the continued availability of Naqvi and van Tonder for the full season is also in doubt. Anything but two points at home to popular relegation-picks Sparta on Thursday would likely see the 2019 Champions supplant Sparta as bookie’s co-favourites to go down along with the hapless VOC. Indeed it would be bitterly ironic if the Schiedammers were to slip out of the Topklasse just as the likes of Stan van Troost and Joost Kroesen were beginning to look at home there. Sparta may claim to be sanguine about their own risk of relegation, but they’ve shown no signs of rolling over this season, and it’s telling that they were one of the two sides to wait the longest last week before giving up on getting a game in…

RL: No less threatened with a spell in the Hoofdklasse, bottom side VOC will entertain HCC, currently sixth on the table and themselves not entirely clear of relegation anxieties. There’s no two ways about it: in terms of firepower with both bat and ball, the Lions have a distinct advantage over the Bloodhounds, although the latter did spring a surprise when their bowlers were too sharp for an out-of-sorts Punjab on 10 May. There’s plenty of talent, if rather less experience, in VOC’s attack, but they are clearly suffering from the largely-unremarked departure of Asief Hoseinbaks, their leading wicket-taker last season but now back at Hoofdklasse club Dosti. Their visitors’ batting has blown a little hot and cold so far, as their position on the table attests, but Roman Harhangi and the brothers Jain, as well as overseas Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer, will need to be at their most effective if they are to keep HCC’s batting to within bounds that their own somewhat shonky batters will be able to match.

BdJ: There’s little question that VOC are outmatched on paper in this encounter, and will be hoping to catch HCC on an off-day, but when those have come for Lions this season they really have been very off indeed, and even this depleted Bloodhounds squad still have the quality to take advantage. That said, while VOC are not the only club affected by Dosti getting the old gang back together this season, I’d have to agree the impact of the loss of Hoseinbaks has received too little attention from the Topklasse commentariat (which I guess is mostly just us really, so our bad there). This week they’ll also have to do without Monty Singh, who’s on duty with Denmark for the first of several engagements, leaving the batting still more dependent on new overseas Scott Jannet, unless someone else in the top order happens upon some kind of form. Playing as they have been VOC will be underdogs if HCC manage more than 150 runs, which they’ve done on three out of five attempts this season.

RL’s picks: Punjab, Kampong, Voorburg, Excelsior, HCC
BdJ’s picks: Punjab, Kampong, VRA, Excelsior, HCC

Rain the only winner on a bleak Saturday

Rod Lyall25/05/25

The band of rain which swept across the Netherlands on Saturday washed away the season’s perfect record of uninterrupted cricket, with only 7.1 overs possible in one match and the other four abandoned without a ball being bowled.

They got a start in the Amsterdamse Bos, where Tayo Walbrugh lost the toss and HBS were invited to bat by Teja Nidamanuru.

Tobias Visée played one of his microcameos, punching the second ball he received from Peter Ruffell strongly to the point boundary and then playing an awkward, unbalanced defensive stroke to the next, inside-edging through to keeper Jack Cassidy.

Lucas del Bianco and Walbrugh were still at the crease, the total on 39, when the arrival of the rain drove the players from the field, although the HBS captain had perhaps been a little fortunate to survive a tight run-out decision, a direct hit from midwicket coinciding with his desperate dive at the non-striker’s end.

The captains optimistically tossed at the Bermweg, where Tim de Kok called correctly and elected to field, but the only action thereafter was Sparta playing sweeping accumulated water from the covers, and the game was eventually abandoned.

By that time the other three had already been called off, all ten teams taking a point from their frustrating day.

Preview Round 6

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 22/05/2025

Well the first burst of the international summer is behind us, and so we’re all free to concentrate on the serious business of club cricket as the Topklasse approaches the end of the first third. The table remains in a somewhat amorphous state at this early stage, with Hermes making the early running but every club having put points on the board. All to play for still then as we head into round six.

BdJ: The match of the round is without a doubt the Schiedam Derby, where a real reversal of recent years sees Hermes DVS flying high unbeaten at the top of the table as they welcome old rivals Excelsior ‘20 to the Loopuyt Oval. Encouragingly for the frontrunners, they fought their way to a win against VOC last week despite a rare failure from Daniel Doyle-Calle, discipline with the ball and especially the spinning triple threat of Dutt, Kothari and Jabarkhail underpinning their success so far. Excelsior’s failure in the face of Punjab’s slow-bowling last week bodes ill for them in that respect, Raynard van Tonder’s efforts in vain at Thurlede on Saturday as they slumped to a 32-run defeat. That said, they still boast a stronger line-up than VOC, and one suspects Hermes will need more runs than they have managed thus far to extend their remarkable winning streak.

RL: The old adage that the best teams have the knack of winning even when they’re not playing at their best certainly applies to Hermes, who demonstrated against VOC that they have acquired Excelsior’s old ability to defend low totals. Even without the incisiveness of Olivier Elenbaas, the Sky Blues’ attack has had an outstanding start to the season – insiders tell us that if they win again on Saturday it will be the second time in their history that they’ve won their first six games of a campaign – and in a competition rich in imported batting they will present a real challenge to Excelsior’s distinguished but so far inconsistent top order. The visitors’ bowling, by contrast, has lacked the sharpness it had last year, although Joost Kroesen’s re-emergence as a wicket-taking leg-spinner has been a feature of the last two rounds. A fine century against Voorburg apart, we have yet to see the best of Antum Naqvi with either bat or ball, but he, too, could prove a trump card on the Loopuyt Oval wicket. Form clearly points to a home win, but if Excelsior get their act together they could yet spring a surprise.

BdJ: Hermes’ nearest rivals Kampong CC face a tricky trip to De Diepput to face the mercurial HCC on Saturday. Kampong have looked imperious at home so far, but will be playing on artificial for the first time this season against a side that’s already knocked over the much-fancied Voorburg when the latter visited in round three. HCC’s home record has otherwise been spotty, but with Gorlee averaging over 100 in his last three outings on artificial wickets it’s hard to judge what a safe score may be at HCC. Kampong have yet to defend a sub-300 total this season, though it’s worth noting they’ve only had to try once, either passing 300 or looking like they could have done comfortably in their other four outings so far.

RL: Boris Gorlee’s form with the bat has been one of the feature’s of HCC’s start to the season, but another has been a rejuvenated Hidde Overdijk, who has looked a much hungrier pace bowler this year. With a dozen wickets in five games he’s up near the top of the bowling averages, although he and the rest of the Lions’ bowling unit will need to be at their best against Kampong’s explosive top order. The presence of Lane Berry at three gives openers Damien van den Berg and Max O’Dowd licence to go for their shots in the powerplay, and Lachlan Bangs has shown that he can build powerfully on a good start – not to mention the lurking menace of Scott Edwards. De Diepput’s short square boundaries are an open invitation for aggressive batting, and if the rain holds off and Deepwell doesn’t live up to its ominous name, the home side’s fielders could spend a lot of time and energy retrieving the ball. But equally, HCC are not without batters capable of exploiting the peculiarities of their home ground, not least opener Tonny Staal, who has hinted in previous games that he may not be far away from one of those match-turning innings. If the Lions lack Kampong’s fire-power overall, they are formidable opponents in a scrap, and they will be keen to put last week’s collapse, their second of the campaign, firmly behind them.

BdJ: Third-placed VRA meanwhile enjoy a second consecutive home game after a long long absence from the Bos, welcoming HBS Craeyenhout to Amselveen on Saturday. The Fluffers will do well to be wary of the Crows, who also knocked over Voorburg last week. The return of Navjit Singh, as well as the (still mostly just lurking) menace of Toby Visée at the top of the order, and especially Kyle Klein back from national duty has added some substance to a side that had previously looked all-too dependent on Tayo Walbrugh and Wes Barresi for runs. Conversely a four-wicket haul for Leon Turmaine on return from the Twos last week is illustrative of the depth of the bench at the Bos. And while VRA looked a bit wobbly with the bat on an admittedly tricky track against HCC, they’ve not really looked like dropping a game at home yet. For HBS this will be only their second game on grass this season, and they didn’t look at all convincing against Hermes. Kyle Klein at least has had had plenty of success on turf wickets this season though, and one suspects he’ll be key if the Crows are to throw off their reputation as mat specialists and stake a claim to a place in a league where artificial surfaces are becoming the exception rather than the rule.

RL: If this year’s competition isn’t going to turn rapidly into a two-horse race, it’s teams like VRA and HBS who hold the key: both are currently four points behind the leaders, and even with only a third of the season gone a six-point deficit would be a lot to make up. So this is another four-pointer, with the winners still in a position to take advantage of any slip by the top two and the losers slipping back into the mid-table churn. Both sides have plenty of class in both batting and bowling: with Vikram Singh, Johan Smal, Teja Nidamanuru and Shariz Ahmad in their top six, VRA are equipped to post big totals, and they need to do so when they have the services of their internationals. If Visée’s brief cameo last week was more than a one-off, HBS are scarcely less well off, while the pace units of Ben Fletcher, Peter Ruffell and Ashir Abid on the one hand and Klein, Lehan Botha and Benno Boddendijk on the other will fully test top orders which yet to produce a really dominating performance. A lot may depend on how the pitch plays: if it’s similar to last week’s, it may be the bowlers who hold most of the cards.

BdJ: Few would have predicted that the first meeting between the 2024 and 2023 Champions this season would be a mid-table clash, but so it will be when Punjab-Ghausia head to Westvliet to take on Voorburg on Saturday. Punjab’s woes this season can be attributed at least in part to the fitness struggles of their remaining Zulfiqar twins, the bowling especially having lacked for penetration so far. The slow bowling was enough to choke out Excelsior last week, with Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas functioning almost as bowling all rounders this season, but even against a Voorburg batting card that’s looked less than the sum of its parts at times it’s difficult to see them taking ten wickets on Saturday. Voorburg’s own bowling is not what it was either of course, with Viv Kingma likely sidelined for a fortnight at least while leggie Peter Hatzalogou got a call from the Multan Sultans last week. While Patient Charumbira has proved a smart acquisition for the Villagers, the rest of the front-line attack (bar the prodigal Flip Boissevain) are all averaging over 30 with the ball this season. On paper then, expect a run-fest. Which of the two sides will be able to turn their season around from here though is tougher to call.

RL: Already two points further back, Voorburg and Punjab’s immediate concern will be to get themselves firmly established in the mid-table’s upper reaches, well away from this season’s expanded relegation zone. That both have the resources to do so comfortably is beyond question – Voorburg are, after all, By Appointment Suppliers of Players to the National Squad as well as having one of the competition’s most prolific and reliable batters in Gavin Kaplan. And in Jonathan Vandiar, Shoaib Minhas and Mohsin Riaz Punjab have three players who last year were instrumental in propelling them to the club’s first national title. As m’colleague observes, however, neither side’s bowling, in conditions which have largely favoured the batters, has been equally effective; injuries and national team demands have played their part in this, no doubt, but both will be looking for more cutting edge from here on in. The same factors have deprived both captains of a settled eleven, but these are clubs with proud recent records, and too much quality to be struggling for long.

BdJ: At the bottom end of the table, Sparta 1888 versus VOC Rotterdam looks pretty do-or-die, with the loser surely favourites for relegation even at this early stage. Both clubs are coming off heavy losses again, admittedly against the two leading sides in the competition, though of the two defeats VOC’s failure to capitalise on bowling out Hermes for just 140 must have stung rather more. Sparta’s attack got taken to pieces by the Kampong top order last week, but the same is true of most of the teams that have come up against the newly-promoted title contenders. While nobody’s beaten Hermes yet this season, VOC were arguably in a better position to do so than anyone has been, before collapsing in a heap in the face of the sky blue spinners. While it’s fair to say that Sparta have been repeatedly bested and at times clearly outclassed this season, they have rarely rolled over in the way the Bloodhounds have.

RL: VOC have shown signs in their last two games of more spirit than they mustered at the start of the season, albeit in flashes rather than across a whole game. Roman Harhangi has bowled some fine spells, and has deserved greater reward than the six wickets he’s picked up so far. Brothers Arnav and Aaditt Jain and Siebe van Wingerden, the latter getting a prolonged run in the first team, also form part of a promising bowling unit, but they need more support from a batting unit which has too often tended to be more a procession than a line-up. In Kyle Klesse Sparta have a batter who has proved to be encouragingly difficult to dislodge, but he’s spent too much time standing alone against a surge of wickets at the other end. With only three half-century partnerships in five matches Sparta could do with a lot more stickability at the crease, but then, VOC have managed no more, and they owe much to transient Danish international Monty Singh. In current form, both clubs can anticipate Hoofdklasse cricket next season, but a few victories could change all that, and barring a tie or lots of rain one of them will leave the Bermweg having doubled their haul of points.

BdJ’s picks: Excelsior, Kampong, VRA, Punjab, Sparta
RL’s picks: Hermes, Kampong, VRA, Voorburg, Sparta.

Hermes stay unbeaten as Kampong maintain their challenge

Rod Lyall 18/05/25

Hermes’ hopes of securing their first Dutch men’s championship since 1946 survived a couple of major scares against VOC Rotterdam at the Hazelaarweg on Saturday, but in the end they successfully defended a meagre total of 140 and won by 49 runs.

The Sky Blues’ unbeaten record appeared to be in serious jeopardy when, after they had elected to bat first, brothers Arnav and Aaditt Jain and Roman Harhangi had reduced them to 45 for four in the space of a dozen overs.

Veteran Nick Statham and Olivier Elenbaas doubled the score before Statham fell to Jason van der Meulen for 26, and then Elenbaas shared another useful stand with Sahil Kothari which took the total to 134 before Arnav Jain returned to removed him for 34.

His departure signalled a rapid end to the Hermes innings, Jain picking up two more wickets to finish with four for 22 as the leaders were all out in 42.3 overs.

Scott Janett and Pieter Recordon launched the VOC reply with an opening stand of 35, but once Aryan Dutt, back from international duty, had removed Recordon, left-arm spinner Kothari took over, and the home side slumped to 53 for seven in just seven more overs.

Skipper Tim de Kok put up some resistance with an 11-ball cameo of 21, but Kothari was irresistable, finishing with career-best figures of six for 23 as VOC were all out for 91.

Heading the pursuing pack, Kampong Utrecht were much less troubled in defeating Sparta 1888 by seven wickets, needing less than 20 overs to chase down the Spartans’ 187 for nine.

Like Hermes, Sparta suffered a top-order collapse, Kertan Nana and Shashank Kumar picking up two wickets apiece to leave the visitors on 27 for four inside the first eight overs, and it took a dogged knock of 74 from Kyle Klesse and a spirited last-wicket stand of 34 between Tim Ferguson and Joost-Martijn Snoep to get them to a total their bowlers had an outside chance of defending.

That hope was quickly snuffed out, however, as Damien van den Berg and Max O’Dowd raced to 83 in ten and a half overs before O’Dowd fell to Snoep for a 33-ball 38.

Van den Berg maintained the momentum with Lane Berry, making 52 from 40 deliveries, but it was Lachlan Bangs’ unbeaten 59 from 24 balls, with two fours and six sixes, which sped Kampong to their overwhelming victory, giving them a clear net run rate advantage over their rivals which may come in handy later in the season.

In the Amsterdamse Bos, meanwhile, VRA were finding that a total of 181 all out was more than enough to secure a win over mid-table rivals HCC.

Here it was the bowlers who were largely in control, Hidde Overdijk’s four for 44 instrumental in keeping VRA’s innings within bounds.

Returning internationals Vikram Singh and Teja Nidamanuru gave their side a promising start with 39 and 33 respectively, but once they had both gone the innings declined from 87 for three to 136 for seven, Oliver White and Josh Brown both collecting wickets to put the home side on the back foot.

The tail was able to get them up to 181, and after the new-ball pairing of Ben Fletcher and Peter Ruffell had removed HCC’s openers off-spinner Leon Turmaine took the crucial wickets of Boris Gorlee, White and Yash Patel to leave the Lions reeling on 36 for five.

There was effectively no way back from there, and although Brown made 35 and Mark Wolfe contributed an unbeaten 15, HCC were dismissed for 113, Turmaine finishing with four for 25.

Voorburg’s title challenge suffered another blow at Craeyenhout, where HBS posted 275 for seven and went on to win by 87 runs.

Wesley Barresi top-scored for the Crows with 71, but it was a fine all-round performance from returning international Kyle Klein which sealed his side’s victory.

First, he made an invaluable 53, coming in at 127 for four and departing at 244 for six, sharing vital stands with Barresi and then with Navjit Singh, who made an unbeaten, 29-ball 34 to see his side to their challenging total.

Voorburg were in with a real chance as Gavin Kaplan (62) and Noah Croes (66) were adding 85 for the fourth wicket, but once Benno Boddendijk had removed Kaplan, Klein, who had earlier dismissed fellow-international Michael Levitt, returned to remove first Croes and then, two balls later, Philippe Boissevain, and HBS were on the path to victory.

He finished with three for 23, and with Jayden Rossouw collecting three for 39 the Voorburg innings ended on 188.

The key relegation battle at Thurlede followed a superficially similar course, Punjab-Ghausia reaching 276 for seven and then dismissing home side Excelsior ‘20 for 244 to move a little closer to the middle of the table.

The pattern of the Punjab innings, though, was somewhat different: Jonathan Vandiar and Shoaib Minhas shared an opening stand of 110 before Jason Ralston bowled Vandiar for 58, and then leg-spinner Joost Kroesen removed Minhas for 93, adding the scalps of Musa Ahmad and Burhan Niaz as Punjab subsided from 172 for one to 208 for four.

Kroesen finished with three for 43, but Khurram Shahzad hit a brisk 26 not out to get his side up to the highest total of the day.

Sam Rahaley (60) and Roel Verhagen (65) responded with a first-wicket partnership of 108 when Excelsior replied, but although Raynard van Tonder made 72, sharing a stand of 56 for the fifth wicket with Luuk Kroesen, once the latter had gone he was unable to find sufficient support, and the innings ended 32 runs short.

Minhas was again Punjab’s main wicket-taker with three for 40.

The defeat leaves Excelsior level on points with Sparta and VOC at the foot of the table, while Punjab have improved their chances of staying clear of the dreaded eighth spot and an end-of-season play-off to avoid relegation.

Preview Round 5

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 15/05/2025

If last week’s matches proved anything, it’s that predicting outcomes in the Topklasse is a mug’s game. But it also confirmed, in large part, that so far this season it’s much more fun being a batter than a bowler: with 11 centuries in the first 20 matches, compared with eleven in the whole of last season, and 13 totals in excess of 250, conditions have certainly favoured batting. With the good weather expected to extend into the weekend, that at least is a trend which might be expected to continue.

RL: Having broken their duck with a remarkable victory over Punjab, VOC Rotterdam now have to take on the current leaders, Hermes-DVS Schiedam. They will at least be at home at the Hazelaarweg, but that won’t be much of a bonus unless they can sort out the ills which continue to afflict their batting. Christiaan Oberholzer stood virtually alone against Punjab, and it was the bowlers, led by young Siebe van Wingerden and the rather less young Jelte Schoonheim, who manufactured the Bloodhounds’ surprise victory. Hermes, it is true, have some batting worries of their own, but with Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle-Calle in supreme form at the top of the order and Asad Zulfiqar contributing his first significant knock in the win against Kampong they have so far been able to rely on a solid start. The Sky Blues’ bowling has so far been their trump card, though, and VOC will need more than another virtuoso effort from Oberholzer if they are to double their points haul here.

BdJ: The only side to have taken ten wickets in each of their matches thus far, Hermes indeed owe their place at the top of the table primarily to their attack. Coming up against a VOC batting card that has looked inconsistent at best, one might predict with reasonable confidence that that streak is likely to survive another week. The Bloodhounds have shown increasing fight over the short season so far though, culminating in a surprise win over the defending champions, achieved without their lead scorer Monty Singh. The bowling remains a concern however, and while Hermes do have a longish tail if one can get through to it, their top order has not shown itself anywhere like as prone to collapse as Punjab’s did last week.

RL: Sparta 1888 similarly took their first points at home to VRA last Saturday, but they now face a difficult journey to meet second-placed Kampong Utrecht, who will presumably be back to full strength into the bargain. With 119 out of a total of 226 Lane Berry was another overseas batter who could have done with more support last week, and Kampong’s bowlers soon found that they were defending a sub-par score in the conditions at the Loopuyt Oval. For Sparta, though, 200 and a bit has so far been the limit of their batters’ success, and that is unlikely to be enough against a Kampong line-up which has twice passed 300. Sparta’s attack, on the other hand, has been pretty effective, and it will need to be to contain Kampong at Maarschalkerweerd. Alex Roy’s side remain serious title contenders, but they cannot afford to yield any more ground to Hermes, and will be determined to bounce back with a win.

BdJ: The pressure will be on Kampong to get full value out of their stacked batting line-up on the occasions that they can field it, and anything less than two points at home to Sparta will be a blow to their ambition to take the title on their first season back. Edwards and O’Dowd have both been in fine touch for the Dutch and will have had plenty of time in the middle at Utrecht, though after a week of ODIs a somewhat tired square may play into the hands of the Spartans and their wiley, pace-off approach with the ball. Two-hundred-and-some may prove a more challenging total than in past rounds, though Kampong would remain favourites to chase anything below 250-odd, and the more likely side to set something substantially higher.

RL: Another side who claimed the points against more fancied opposition last week, HBS likewise are rewarded with a tough assignment, a Voorburg outfit which will be welcoming back most of its international contingent. The Craeyenhout attack, though, will be strengthened by the return of Kyle Klein, while the batting received a big boost against HCC from Lehan Botha’s remarkable display of aggression. One of the more intriguing features of the campaign so far has been the success of Wesley Barresi as a new-ball-sharing off-spinner, with seven wickets for 99 in the two matches since Tayo Walbrugh started using him in that role. Whether he will continue in it with Klein back in the side may be moot, but the encounter between the Crows’ bowlers and Voorburg’s powerful batting line-up should be one of the most interesting aspects of the round.

BdJ: A big caveat there is that Voorburg’s returning international contingent won’t be quite what it was on departure, with Viv Kingma picking up a hamstring injury and Bas de Leede likely heading back to Durham. Yet despite the unheralded success of the Crows’ attack so far this season, they’ll have their work cut out containing Voorburg’s intimidating batting card. Conversely, HBS have looked worryingly dependent on Barresi and Walbrugh for runs thus far, and if they’re going to take the points on Saturday they’ll likely have to win them with the ball.

RL: The meeting of VRA Amsterdam and HCC in the Bos will definitely count as a four-pointer: defeats for both sides last week see them level on points mid-table, a win on Saturday keeping them in touch with the three leaders, another loss bringing them unpleasantly close to relegation territory. With Boris Gorlee in outstanding form with the bat, 303 runs having come in his last three innings, the Lions looked as if they were recovering well from an opening-day loss until they fell away against HBS, while VRA suffered as much as anybody from the absence of their internationals in the past two rounds. So everything points to a real tussle here, and Johan Smal and Patrick Gouge, whose effort with the bat against Sparta proved to be in vain, will welcome much greater support from a VRA line-up which at full strength looks to be as formidable as any in the competition against an HCC bowling unit which has conceded over 600 runs in its last two outings.

BdJ: The outcome at the Bos on Saturday does look like it will be the difference between a stutter and a stumble for the two sides. HCC have the benefit of a settled side unperturbed by the national selectors and the leading run-scorer in the league, even if the rest of the batting order’s returns have been comparatively modest. VRA’s three international have spent much of the ODI series on the sidelines for one reason or another, and though we understand Teja Nidamanuru is expected to be fully fit for Saturday, none of the three have had much game time of late. That said the HCC attack has failed to contain lesser batting sides than what VRA will be fielding on Saturday, and the hosts will feel that if they can neutralise Gorlee the two points will be there for the taking.

RL: Sharing an unenviable position among the bottom four, Excelsior ‘20 and Punjab-Ghausia will be in even greater need of a victory when they meet at Thurlede. The comparative failure of Punjab’s top order, which has been reduced to 60 for four, 67 for four, 62 for four and 30 for six in its four innings so far, is one of the Topklasse’s great enigmas this season, although the injury to Saqib Zulfiqar has undoubtedly not helped a side which otherwise had a pretty settled look. Some bowling unit, one feels, is going to suffer mightily when Punjab hit their straps, and Excelsior’s, so often its great strength, has proved comparatively toothless so far. One notable exception to that was the under-used leg-spinner Joost Kroesen, who almost brought his side back into the game when they appeared to be down and out against Voorburg. But last season’s spearhead, Jason Ralston, has just five wickets from his first four games, and Excelsior will need his cutting edge to be at its sharpest if they are to put Punjab under pressure again.

BdJ: As much as the travails of the top four, Punjab’s title defense has been hamstrung by the Zulfiqar-shaped hole in the bowling attack. One indeed suspects that the likes of Minhas, Riaz and Musa Ahmad will not remain runless for long, but the lack of penetration in the bowling attack is a real concern, and indeed Ahmad’s formerly part-time spin has been the chief source of wickets for the side this season. Coming up against Raynard van Tonder, Antum Naqvi and an in-form Stan van Troost, there’s a danger Punjab’s attenuated attack could be exposed in a big way.

RL’s picks: Hermes, Kampong, Voorburg, VRA, Punjab

BdJ’s picks: Hermes, Kampong, Voorburg, VRA, Excelsior

Hermes, still unbeaten, go top

Rod Lyall 11/05/25

In a remarkable day’s cricket on Saturday, Hermes-DVS Schiedam cruised to victory over Kampong Utrecht, becoming the only unbeaten side in the Topklasse, while three of the bottom four beat higher-ranked opponents to sharpen the battle to avoid relegation.

The round was all the more historic because for the first time in the 135 years of the Dutch competition, two hat-tricks were recorded in the top flight on the same day.

After they won the toss at the Loopuyt Oval and elected to bat, Kampong’s innings was held together by Australian overseas Lane Berry, whose 97-ball 119, with 12 fours and three sixes, saw them to 224 for seven before the last four wickets fell for the addition of just two runs.

Berry and Lorenzo Ingram both fell to Sahil Kothari, who claimed two for 21 in his eight overs, while Hikmatullah Jabarkhail cleaned up the tail to finish with three for 30.

Ash Ostling and Daniel Doyle-Calle gave Hermes a great start with an opening stand of 125 in just 18 overs, and after Doyle fell for 72, caught by Pierre Jacod off the bowling of Alex Roy, Ostling continued in company with Asad Zulfiqar, ensuring a nine-wicket victory with ten and a half overs to spare. Ostling ended on 92 and Zulfiqar on 44.

If the top-of-the-table clash turned out to be a comfortable win, the four remaining matches were to varying degrees more hard-fought.

The most surprising was at the Zomercomplex, where VOC Rotterdam were seemingly down and out at the halfway point, having been dismissed for 164 by cross-town rivals Punjab-Ghausia in another disappointing effort with the bat.

That they reached that total was largely due to Christiaan Oberholzer, who came in at 2 for two in the third over and batted through to the end, making a dogged 85.

Of the rest of the side, Scott Janett and Siebe van Wingerden both contributed 22, but no-one else reached double figures, while for Punjab Mubashar Hussain celebrated his return to the first team with three for 24 and Musa Ahmad claimed three for 20.

Then, after Van Wingerden had removed both openers, Jelte Schoonheim ripped through Punjab’s middle order, removing Mohsin Riaz, Burhan Niaz and Sikander Zulfiqar to perform the first Toplasse hat-trick for three years and leave the defending champions reeling on 30 for six.

Muhammad Asif Gondal, also in the side for the first time this season, and Fawad Shinwari turned the ship around with a seventh-wicket partnership of 74, but when Aaditt Jain returned to remove Gondal for 34 it was left to Shinwari to try to assemble the remaining 61 runs in company with the tail.

He and Aaliyan Mahmood added another 28, but then Oberholzer trapped Shinwari in front for 52, and when Roman Harhangi began the final over eight were still required the last pair together.

They managed two of them, but then Mahmood attempted a leg-side scoop and stand-in keeper Tim de Kok, dropping back, took the catch which gave VOC their first victory of the season, by just five runs.

They remain at the foot of the table, however, since Sparta 1888, also winless after three games, beat VRA Amsterdam in an equally tense encounter at the Bermweg.

157 out of VRA’s total of 204 came from a single partnership, that for the third wicket between Patrick Gouge (69) and Johan Smal (86), after Ahsan Malik had reduced the Amsterdammers to 4 for two, and after Juandre Scheepers dismissed Smal and Malik removed Gouge in the next over the innings again fell away, only Adam Constant (18) able to reach double figures.

Malik’s three for 36 was matched by Scheepers’ four for 33, while Joost-Martijn Snoep maintained the pressure in the middle overs, his ten overs conceding only 23.

Sparta battled to achieve what was a fairly challenging target in the Bermweg conditions, but Kyle Klesse’s unbeaten 75 saw them home by four wickets with ten deliveries to spare, Khalid Ahmadi chipping in with a 27-ball 38 which got his side back in touch with the required rate and took them to within five runs of victory.

The tightening in the middle of the table was furthered by the victory of HBS Craeyenhout over <b.HCC at De Diepput, which was transformed by a 177-run stand for the fourth wicket between Tayo Walbrugh and Lehan Botha, and more particularly by the latter’s devastating 90-ball knock of 119, which included eight fours and as many sixes.

At 56 for three after 20 overs HBS were toiling somewhat, but then Botha unleashed a formidable attack, reaching 50 from 49 deliveries and needing only another 29 balls to go to three figures,

Walbrugh was more restrained at the other end, but he batted to the end for an unbeaten 93, sharing a stand of 57 with Navjit Singh (27) along the way and enabling his side to reach 285 for seven, the day’s highest total.

Having chased down 327 last Monday HCC began confidently enough, Tonny Staal and Boris Gorlee putting on 100 for the second wicket in just twelve overs, but once Staal fell for 37 and Benno Boddendijk removed Gorlee for 79, the innings lost some of its momentum.

At 209 for five they were still in with a chance, but then Wesley Barresi came back to claim three wickets with his off-breaks, ending with four for 56, and the final wicket fell at 233, giving HBS a 52-run victory.

At Westvliet, Voorburg were seemingly cruising to the win as they chased Excelsior ‘20’s 255 all out, but then leg-spinner Joost Kroesen took a hand, trapping centurion Gavin Kaplan, Nirav Kulkarni and Tom de Leede LBW with successive deliveries to post the day’s second hat-trick.

An opening stand of 168 between Cedric de Lange (68) and Kaplan had set up a Voorburg win, and when Kaplan reached his first hundred of the season and his fifth for the club it appeared to be as good as over.

Kroesen’s triple coup, however, which became four when he bowled the veteran Usman Malik, gave Voorburg a few nervous moments before Udit Nashier and Patrick Charumbira knocked off the remaining runs with two and a half overs to spare.

Kroesen, who only bowled a total of 11 overs in the past two seasons, finished with four for 41, but his intervention came too late to save his side.

Earlier, Antum Naqvi had hit his maiden Topklasse century, his 121 the key to Excelsior’s competitive total, assisted by Jason Ralston in a crucial ninth-wicket partnership of 59; Mees van Vliet (three for 49) and Charumbira (three for 35) had done much of the damage for Voorburg.