Category: Preview

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 23/07/20

There will be a maximum of two Topklasse sides with a perfect record after this Sunday’s fourth round matches, as the abbreviated competition begins to take shape. But several of this week’s fixtures are very tricky to read, and it looks like another absorbing day’s cricket.

RL: The match of the day is undoubtedly that between HCC and VRA Amsterdam at De Diepput. The home side will have been greatly encouraged by their victory over Voorburg last Sunday, but VRA have been untroubled in their three wins so far and everything looks set for a highly entertaining encounter on the Hagenaars’ pocket-sized ground. VRA are able to pursue their policy of rotating youth players in the knowledge that in Vikram Singh, Ben Cooper, Peter Borren and now the returning Eric Szwarczynski they have a richly-experienced batting line-up, while Quirijn Gunning’s form with the ball against Excelsior lent a real cutting edge to the attack. But HCC, too, have well-balanced side, augmented this year by the arrival of Musa Ahmad and Damien Crowley, and if there are some questions about the solidity of their batting they were answered in part last week by the good form of Boris Gorlee and Hidde Overdijk. One for the connoisseurs, this!

BdJ: The games’ top-table status may make it the one to watch this week, but VRA at least are unlikely to be fielding a full-strength line-up on the day. With this round falling on what was to be the cricket-free weekend and travel restrictions beginning to ease across the continent, pre-booked holidays are taking their toll across the league and VRA look likely to be particularly hard hit. Most notable expected absentees are the above-mentioned Szwarczynski and Gunning, and with a couple of the youngsters also granted the week off, expect some new (or old!) faces when the Amsterdammers take the field. The core of the batting line-up in Singh, Cooper and Borren at least willl ensure HCC won’t have the easiest time of it, and themselves will have to find a replacement opener for Musa Nadeem who is out with a suspected fractured jaw courtesy a bouncer from Singh in the nets earlier in the weak, but nonetheless they may just have reason to be glad of the way the schedule has shaken out.

RL: Also with three wins out of three, Punjab Rotterdam have what looks like a rather less challenging task, at home to struggling Dosti-United Amsterdam. Punjab have a strong case for being the best batting line-up in the competition, with Stef Myburgh joined by a quartet of Zulfiqars and Anil Nidamanuru, while Dosti have managed a total of just 195 runs in three completed innings; Punjab made more in beating VOC last Sunday, for the loss of four wickets. It seems that nothing can go right at the moment for the Amsterdammers, and it will be a real test of character for them to turn this season around. Touseef Ahmed remains a potential trump card, but there’s a limit to how much he can be expected to do on his own.

BdJ: Fair to say that Dosti will at least have little to lose when they arrive at het Zomercomplex, and one might argue that simple reversion to mean is reason enough to expect them to put three figures on the board at some point, but there’s little further reason to expect a turnaround when they go up against a near-full-strength Punjab who will be looking to cement their place at the top end of the table.

RL: Two sides with a strong youth component, Voorburg and Excelsior ’20 Schiedam meet at Westvliet in what could be another absorbing game. Excelsior’s limitations were ruthlessly exposed by VRA last Sunday, and one senses that it is more important than ever that Lorenzo Ingram comes off if Excelsior are to be competitive. Their batsmen will face the test of Voorburg’s seam quartet of Viv Kingma, Ali Ahmed Qasim, Bas de Leede and Stef Mulder this week, and while Voorburg’s batting crumbled against HCC they can be expected to perform better against the Excelsior attack. But a key aspect of this season is the opportunity it affords for the youngsters to prove their mettle, and there is plenty of youthful talent in both these sides.

BdJ: The title-holders’ will doubtless be displeased to find themselves at an unfamiliar end of the table three rounds in, but one wonders if they might be more determined to do something about it were their title under threat. The Schiedammers have looked comparatively unconcerned with their disappointing season, seemingly happy to give their youth a run-out at senior level. At times it’s looked like it might even pay dividends, Rens van Troost looking increasingly comfortable batting up the order and Niels Etman showing some promise, but they’ve yet to come close to a win. Despite last week’s defeat, several of VCC’s own home-grown contingent have had the benefit of greater experience at a higher level, and one suspects that may tell again come Sunday.

RL: Another outfit with plenty of youth is ACC, as seamer Mees van Vliet demonstrated last Sunday and batsman Shreyas Potdar the week before. They will take on a VOC Rotterdam side for whom national captain Pieter Seelaar showed renewed appetite for runs in the defeat by Punjab, and despite that loss the Rotterdammers looked a lot more competitive than they had in their first two games. Again on their own patch at Het Loopveld, ACC will be looking to repeat last week’s success against Sparta, a fine team effort by a side with half-a-dozen changes from last season. Bobby Hanif’s return gives the VOC attack a more stable look, but the batting is yet to cohere into a unit, and although they are capable of springing a surprise my guess is that ACC will have the better of this battle between two mid-table sides.

BdJ: VOC have been struggling with player availability throughout the season and it has been reflected in their results, so the news of Seelaar’s sidelining (due to a back injury rather than a city break) will come as a still heavier blow. It was Seelaar’s unbeaten 93 that proved the backbone (sorry) of their first half-decent score of the season, and his absence will further unsettle an already unstable line-up, as well as depriving them of ten overs of quality left arm spin. ACC meanwhile, despite extensive personnel changes, seem to have gelled into something resembling a steady if unshowy side. In a competition where few teams can say the same, the Amsterdammers may yet give a better account of themselves than many predicted.

RL: After their demolition of VOC Sparta 1888 were brought back to earth by ACC, and now return to the Bermweg to face a HBS Craeyenhout side which may have been put back on the rails by their comprehensive win over Dosti. Here we have two seam attacks well suited to the traditionally bowler-friendly conditions in Capelle, but equally both sides have explosive batsmen who can, if they come off, transform a game remarkably quickly. Sparta will be hoping that they can grab the wicket of Tobias Visée before he does too much damage, while HBS will know that they need to neutralise the threat posed by Mudassar Bukhari and Ali Raza. Whoever achieves that goal quicker will probably win, but on all-round strength it may be HBS who just about have the edge.

BdJ: Probably the toughest game to call this round, with both sides fortunes tending to hinge on the performance of rather mercurial match-winners. Among players returning this season, Mudassar Bukhari was unarguably the stand-out performer of 2019 (unless of course you happen to be on the KNCB Player of the Year panel, in which case it was apparently was entirely arguable). Bukhari hasn’t really come off so far this season, but remains a real threat with both bat and ball. Conversely Tobias Visée reminded everyone last week of why he is one of the few in the league to attract interest from T20 franchises abroad with a brutal 67 off 24, though as with Sparta the rest of the HBS line-up looks rather threadbare, especially when Tim Drummond is unavailable. All told it’s a match up that could produce a tight game or blow out wildly either way, which obviously isn’t much of a prediction, so for the sake of being sporting I’ll back Sparta this time.

Rod Lyall’s tips: VRA, Punjab, Voorburg, ACC, HBS.
Bertus de Jong’s tips: HCC, Punjab, Voorburg, ACC, Sparta

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 23/08/19

So we arrive at the denouement of this season’s Topklasse, the championship decided last week with Excelsior reclaiming the title with a convincing win over an understrength Dosti side, and all that remains to be resolved is which of Quick and Sparta will be replaced by Punjab Rotterdam next season.

BdJ: Sparta 1888 still need a win, a tie or a washout against HCC at Bermweg on Sunday to be sure of their Topklasse survival, having failed to put the question to bed when they sank to a 64-run loss against relegation rivals Quick Haag last week. Though Andrew Fletcher has finally found some form after a disappointing season, Max Hoornweg’s progress has proved sufficient to catch the eye of national selectors and Mudassar Bukhari is bowling as well as ever, going up against the second-placed HCC is an unenviable final fixture for a side in Sparta’s position. The Cappelle side has won just one match in the second half of the season, whilst HCC are six from eight. The form of Bryce Street has been a major factor in HCC’s success thus far, currently leading the batting averages as well as boasting 20 wickets and 15 catches so far this season. Adam Wiffen has had a fine season with the bat, and comes off a couple of solid performances for Netherlands A against Jersey in the past week. It’s been an all-round effort from HCC to keep in the title hunt for as long as they did however, and Sparta will have to hope that they arrive at Bermweg somewhat deflated after falling short in the quest for the championship.

RL: No question that HCC have the edge over Sparta, who were distinctly the weaker party in their match against Quick Haag last week. They do have a potential match-winner in Mudassar Bukhari, who shares the season’s leading wicket-taker spot with Dosti’s Kuldeep Diwaan at 32, and who remains a threatening presence in the batting line-up. Sparta are, of course, a tougher proposition at home, where their bowlers are a more imposing unit than elsewhere, but HCC’s batting is both strong and relatively deep; although Hidde Overdijk didn’t come off last Sunday he is also capable of scoring quickly should circumstances demand it. Sparta will want to ensure that events at Westvliet are irrelevant to their survival, but it will take a much improved effort if they are end their season with a win.

BdJ: Also in contention for the wooden spoon are Quick Haag, currently languishing at the bottom of the table on 9 points from 17 games. They will need both HCC to best Sparta on Sunday as well as taking two points home themselves when they face VCC at Westvliet. Their win over Sparta last week kept their hopes alive one more week, though it again rather underscored the importance of Jay Bista to the side. Though Bob van Gigch and Jeroen Brand came through with half-centuries in support, it was Bista’s six wickets in the second innings that sealed the win. That said, VCC will not have forgotten the 194 that the Mumbaiker racked up against them in their previous encounter. Though one might hope Quick will be the more motivated of the two sides come Sunday, VCC bounced back from a string of poor results to find an unlikely last ball win away at VRA last week, perhaps enjoying some cricket with the pressure off.

RL: One of the season’s great enigmas is Voorburg’s failure to have a more significant impact on their return to the Topklasse: they have undoubtedly missed the contribution of Bas de Leede, but their batting has consistently been unable to fulfil its promise and they have only intermittently shown what they ought to be capable of. Quick, on the other hand, demonstrated last week that even without Geert Maarten Mol they can produce a convincing effort when it is needed, and it will never be more acutely needed than it is this week at Westvliet. They could turn on another winning performance only to find that Sparta have squeezed them out; but they know that without such a performance it won’t matter what happens in Capelle. Voorburg have the bowlers to cut through Quick’s batting, but if the latter show the resilience they did against Sparta this is a relegation battle which could go all the way to the wire.

BdJ: Meanwhile VRA have the chance to put a bit of a downer on the party at Thurlede when they take on the newly-crowned <b.Excelsior ‘20. Despite a rather sloppy performance against VCC that saw them concede some 29 extras and eventually the game, they remain entirely capable of bringing the champions down to earth. The loss of Quirijn Gunning to injury takes some of the sting from the attack, but on the batting side of things the Amsterdammers are beginning to live up to their paper strength. Vikram Singh continues to mature, crossing 500 runs for the season last week and looking in good nick for Netherlands A, and together with Peter Borren and Ben Cooper VRA now have three players with 500 runs to their name, whilst Excelsior, quite remarkably, have none. That stat is of course something of a testament to Excelsior’s strength in the field, and indeed the Schiedam side has looked more than the sum of its parts throughout the season.

RL: Brenton Parchment and Lorenzo Ingram may have had relatively quiet seasons for Excelsior with the bat, but they are massive presences in the side, and their efforts in the field far outweigh their mere statistics. With skipper Tom Heggelman and Rens van Troost in great form with the ball the Schiedammers’ demolition of Dosti last week was a fitting climax to their pursuit of the title, but the whole team will be keen to ensure that the season doesn’t end in anti-climax at home to VRA. The Amsterdam side are, of course, extremely dependent on a few outstanding players, including the rapidly-emerging Singh, and their batting will provide a stiff test for Excelsior’s attack.

BdJ: What remains for the rest is mid-table positional play, though for last year’s champions VOC Rotterdam even a top-five finish is more than they can now hope for. They welcome fourth-placed HBS Craeyenhout to Hazelaarweg on Sunday, though one expects both sides will be more concerned with events the preceding day when they contest the final round of the T20 competition along with ACC and HCC. One suspects if one side or other can carry some momentum in from Saturday’s contest at VCC it may prove decisive for the final 50-over contest of the season for these two underperforming sides.

RL: Every game of cricket matters, or ought to, and there will at least be pride at stake when HBS take on VOC on Sunday. Some of the individual battles, too, are intriguing: HBS’s battery of seamers against O’Dowd, Seelaar and Edwards, for example, and Seelaar’s spin against that powerful HBS batting line-up. If that suggests that HBS have the edge in both departments that’s because they do, but if VOC’s international trio perform as they are capable of doing, or other key team-members like Dirk van Baren and Bobby Hanif play their part, then this could be a closer match than form indicates.

BdJ: And finally ACC, who rather fell away after making the early running in the Topklasse, will take on the wildly erratic Dosti-United at Het Loopveld, again largely for bragging rights. ACC staged something of a resurgence after their late season slump, besting HBS at De Diepput last week to ensure they’d finish top of the Amsterdam clubs this season, whilst Dosti collapsed to 61 all-out against Excelsior to hand the Schiedammers the title on a platter. Dosti were rather understrength last week, with Kohli long gone and Bali and Davids also absent, but there is little indication they will field a substantially stronger outfit come Saturday. Though both Vinoo Tewarie and Rahil Ahmed have stepped up on occasion to produce some fine innings over the season, Dosti will need both to fire and the rest of the regulars to offer some support if they’re to finish on a high this season.

RL: It’s been a difficult season for Dosti, and not only in the Topklasse, and this was underlined very firmly by last week’s disappointing effort against Excelsior. With Amitoze Singh also missing from the teamsheet and Waheed Masood forced out of the attack after bowling just ten deliveries, the attrition of resources is reaching critical levels, while ACC’s roller-coaster season has at last seen the emergence of some of their younger talents, especially Aryan Kumar and, to a degree, Shirase Rasool. But Brady Barends has been the star of their show, and with the Zulfiqar brothers making runs last week they look a much more impressive outfit than they did a month or so ago.

Bertus de Jong’s tips: HCC, VCC, VRA, HBS, ACC

Rod Lyall’s tips: HCC, Quick, Excelsior, HBS, ACC.

With just two rounds left to play, both the ultimate destination of the trophy and who will play in the Hoofdklasse next season remain in doubt, although both questions could be resolved this Sunday. There will be time once the dust has settled to debate whether this reflects positively on the current competition structure and the eligibility rules, but for the moment attention will be centred on Sportpark Drieburg, De Diepput and Nieuw Hanenburg, where crucial battles are scheduled to be fought.

RL: Needing just one more win to make sure of the title, Excelsior ‘20 travel to Amsterdam to take on Dosti United, whose convincing victory over Voorburg last Sunday demonstrated that they are still a force to be reckoned with. With Kuldeep Diwan not only the competition’s leading wicket-taker but also adding great destructive power to the lower order, the Amsterdammers are more capable than most of testing the nerve of Tom Heggelman’s side, and once again a great deal may depend on the toss. Both teams are more effective batting first, though for different reasons: Dosti can set challenging targets, while Excelsior have proved outstanding at defending modest ones. Excelsior haven’t lost since the end of May, but if Dosti win the toss they might just find themselves needing to win their final match at Thurlede to clinch the championship.
BdJ: Excelsior still have two shots at reclaiming the title, but nice as it would be to bag it in front of a home crowd they’ll be keen to put the competition to bed come Sunday rather than letting it come down to the last-round with a resurgent VRA headed to Thurlede. It’s worth noting though that Excelsior’s recent successes in defence of modest totals has come against sides that still had skin in the game, so to speak. It may be a tougher ask to apply that same pressure to a Dosti side with nothing in particular on the line. Even without Taruwar Kohli Dosti’s batting line up has proved capable of running up serious scores, though if Excelsior can maintain the expemplary disciplinethat’s got them this far they’re still odds-on to take home the silverware on Sunday.

RL: For second-placed HCC it is no longer enough to see off VOC Rotterdam; they must hope that Dosti do them a favour as well. Perhaps thrown off their stride somewhat by the collapse of Dirk van Baren, the Rotterdammers fell apart against Sparta last Sunday despite another half-century from Pieter Seelaar, and there must be serious doubts about their attack’s ability to contain an HCC line-up in which Tonny Staal, Adam Wiffen, Bryce Street and now Hidde Overdijk are all among the runs, the latter ending the season with a flourish with the bat, as he began it with the ball. VOC’s chances will depend, again, on whether Max O’Dowd, Seelaar and Scott Edwards are able to match HCC’s growing confidence with the bat, but De Diepput’s tight square boundaries will offer both sides plenty of incentive for some hard hitting.
BdJ: HCC’s championship hopes have indeed slipped out of their hands now, but VOC’s title defence never really got started. The focus of the European Champions, one suspects, has turned to the T20 competition through which they’ll be looking to book a ticket back to La Manga. Nonetheless they remain a formidable 50-over side when their trio of internationals fire, and will of course be the less nervy of the two sides on Sunday. The return of Bobby Hanif has gone some way toward shoring up VOC’s attack after the departure of Fletcher, but despite a creditable first season at Rotterdam for Ashiqullah Said the absence of Fred Klaassen is still keenly felt. If Excelsior are to take the title this weekend, one suspects they’ll have to win it themselves.

RL: Sparta 1888’s defeat of VOC last week relieved the pressure on them a little, but Quick Haag could still overhaul them – by 0.02 of a point – by winning their last two matches, including the clash between the two sides on Sunday, if the Capelle side also lost to HCC the following week. Sparta again owed a lot to Mudassar Bukhari, whose 71 and four for 36 was a fine all-round effort, and they will need him to be at his best again this week to neutralise the danger of Jay Bista, whose importance for Quick’s hopes of survival is even greater. There are plenty of reasons why these two sides are at the foot of the table, but one must hope that the immediate prospect of relegation will inspire them to raise their game at Nieuw Hanenburg on Sunday and produce a match worthy of the top flight.
BdJ: The weight of carrying Quick’s survival hopes on his shoulders seems to be finally taking its toll on Bista, whose run-a-ball fifty against VRA last week looked streakier than usual and again proved insufficient to set up a win. Though Geert-Maarten Mol has again been offering Bista steady support over the season the Hanen nonetheless find themselves in a worst position even than last year, Sparta having stolen a march on them last round and now needing two wins and a little luck if they are to avoid relegation. Neutral fans may be hoping for a Quick win for the sake of the competition, setting up a potential championship/relegation decider at Bermweg in the final round, whilst keeping fully three of the final five fixtures relevant to the title or relegation, but the most likely outcome on form at least is that both will be settled this Sunday.

RL: Despite their rather hollow defeat by Excelsior last week, HBS Craeyenhout could still finish as runners-up if results go their way in the final two rounds, and they will welcome Tobias Visée back from his Canadian exploits for their match against ACC — again scheduled for the second ground at De Diepput. Both these sides have fallen upon hard times in recent weeks after a storming start to the campaign, but they include some of the undoubted stars of the season: Brady Barends for ACC, for example, and Sharn Gomes and Wesley Barresi, as well as Visée, for HBS. The HBS seam attack, Farshad Khan excepted, underperformed against Excelsior, and ACC’s inexplicably fragile top order will be hoping that the same applies this week. If not, it may take more heroics from Barends and Sikander Zulfiqar with the bat to keep the Amsterdammers in the hunt.
BdJ: Both HBS and ACC have looked rather deflated after falling out of contention for the top spot, though it’s difficult to guage how much that has been due to the absence of Toby Visée and Jean Marais at the top of their respective batting orders.The return of the HBS captain after a typically enterprising display at the GT20 will be a boost for HBS, though with three of the top four scorers in the league also to be found in the Crows’ line up one would think a big innings from the skipper looks like a sufficient but not necessary condition for victory.

RL: Quick’s defeat by VRA saved Voorburg from any remaining threat of a quick return to the Hoofdklasse, and they will travel to the Amsterdamse Bos on Sunday knowing that this is a game on which relatively little is riding. For their hosts, however, there is a real possibility that despite their appalling start to the season they could still finish in the top half of the table, having won six of their nine games since Peter Borren resumed the captaincy. On paper it’s a lopsided contest: Voorburg’s tottering batting against a limited VRA attack, VRA’s potentially powerful line-up of Singh, Szwarczynski, Cooper and Borren against a more than useful Voorburg bowling unit. The momentum is decidedly with the home side, and despite Voorburg’s win at Westvliet back in June it would come as something of a surprise if they were to take the points this time.
BdJ: It’s perhaps a surprise that there’s nothing but bragging rights on the line at this game in the end, with both sides starting the season widely regarded as potential title contenders and then both looking like relegation candidates by five games in. VCC did the hard work to put distance between themselves and the wooden spoon in the mid-season, whilst VRA left it a little later. Both sides are now safe, but whilst VRA’s recent form has seen them win five of their last six games, VCC’s last victory came five rounds ago. That said, VRA’s already rickety attack will be further weakened by the loss of a lately in-form Quirijn Gunning, who is out for the rest of the season with a broken hand. An opportunity perhaps for an underperforming VCC line-up to repair their season averages, though given how Dosti dealt with the more celebrated VCC attack last week VRA’s batsmen may well be thinking the same thing.

Rod Lyall’s tips: Excelsior, HCC, Quick, HBS, VCC.
Bertus de Jong’s tips: Excelsior, HCC, Sparta, HBS, VCC.

Rod Lyall 02/08/19

After the usual end-of-July week off, this year a busman’s holiday for VOC Rotterdam and for the youngsters engaged in Under-19 WCQ duty, the Topklasse resumes on Sunday, in the midst of a four-match T20I series against the United Arab Emirates.  We understand that the national squad members have been released for Sunday’s matches, although the bowlers are supposed to be limited to five overs apiece. Oh, and it’s the time of year when, as visas begin to expire, overseas players start to return home.

Against this background, leaders Excelsior ‘20 travel to De Diepput to take on their main challengers, HCC. As others have faltered these two sides have emerged as the season’s most consistent, and this promises to be one of the most absorbing matches of the year, as well as one of the most significant. An Excelsior victory would extend the gap between the sides to five points and effectively put the title out of reach for the Hagenaars, but Tonny Staal’s men have the all-round ability to keep themselves in the hunt against an Excelsior outfit which, for all its consistency, has needed some determined performances in the field to defend disappointing efforts with the bat. The outcome may depend on which side’s local players step up at this crucial point in the competition.

Fresh from their triumph in the inaugural ‘European Champions League’ in La Manga, VOC Rotterdam return to reality for their encounter at Hazelaarweg with the other principal contenders for the title, ACC. And they will, we understand, do so without Pierce Fletcher, further weakening an attack which has struggled all season.  For ACC, no less than for HCC, a win here is absolutely vital if they are to retain a chance of snatching the championship, and they will be hoping that they can recapture the dominating form which took them to the top of the table in the first half of the season. To do that they will need their top five to take full advantage of VOC’s limitations with the ball, while at the same time finding a way of containing O’Dowd, Seelaar and Edwards.

Among the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns, one thing is certain: HBS Craeyenhout will be without skipper Tobias Visée when they take on Voorburg on the second ground at De Diepput. He, of course, is in Canada, and his side will undoubtedly miss the mayhem he so often creates among opposing attacks. Their opponents will be without Matt Smit, but will still have his brother Nic, who has provided a solid core in what has all too frequently been a disappointingly irresolute batting line-up. Who else plays, and under what limitations, remains to be seen, but the bottom line is that an HBS defeat here would definitively end whatever thin theoretical hope they might have of remaining in the title race. A fairer assessment would be that this is really a mid-table clash where pride and individual reputations are at stake rather than any larger issues.

The delayed arrival of Quick Haag’s two Indian players may now turn out to their advantage, locked as they are in a tight relegation battle with Sparta. Every match that these two sides play in the coming month will be vital, and Quick will travel to Sportpark Drieburg on Sunday knowing that they really need to raise their game against Dosti United. As so often, the contribution of Jay Bista will provide a crucial subplot: if he fires Quick will be in contention, but should Dosti remove him early their chances of claiming the points will be greatly improved. How many of Dosti’s overseas contingent remain will also be a factor: one late arrival who could balance Bista is Abhinav Bali, who has shown that he can give his side plenty of momentum in the initial powerplay.

With one point from their last five games Sparta 1888 badly need some good news, their fortunes since the turn contrasting unfavourably with those of Peter Borren’s resurgent VRA Amsterdam. Favourites (if that’s the right word) for relegation for the first half of the season, VRA have climbed way from the foot of the table, and a win in the Amsterdamse Bos this Sunday would further enhance their prospects of remaining in the top flight. Vikram Singh returns from a more successful Under-19 qualifier than many of his national team-mates, and with their combination of youth and experience VRA seem likely to be too strong for a Sparta side more dependent than ever on old stagers Mudassar Bukhari and Atse Buurman.

Rod Lyall’s tips: Excelsior, ACC, Voorburg, Dosti, VRA.

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 19/07/19

Last round before the break and the final stretch of this Topklasse season is looming, and as ten team round robins go there’s a remarkable amount still to play for. Excelsior have stretched their lead at the top but there’s three sides still in a position to plausibly challenge for the title, with ACC, HCC and HBS all on 16 points from between 11 and 13 matches. A six point gap between the leaders and the mid-table leaves the rest of the pack all in some danger of relegation, though Dosti, VCC and especially VOC could take significant steps toward safety over the coming weekend.

BdJ: Of the three, VOC Rotterdam are best placed to secure their survival with a double-weekend ahead before they head off to La Manga to contest the new European Championship. Their delayed match-up against a late-resurgent VRA is Saturday’s sole fixture, where the Amsterdammers will look to continue to put distance between themselves and the relegation spot they had occupied for much of the season. VRA’s bowling finally came good last week when they bundled HBS out for 135 to set up a remarkably comprehensive upset victory, Quirijn Gunning and Brandon Graber finally making the new ball talk as they blasted past HBS’s imposing top order. VOC’s own game against VCC was written off at a flooded Hazelaarweg, so there’s little indication they have solved their own problems with the ball. That said, there’s been much promise but little consistency to be found in VRA’s own top-order, and the presence of Pieter Seelaar and Scott Edwards in the VOC middle-order means a good new-ball spell from Gunning or Graber is unlikely to be a killing blow. Whether they play out at the top or the bottom of the table, VRA and VOC’s encounters at the Bos have generally provided excellent entertainment at least, though the outcome is tough to call this would likely have been the match of the day even had their been any competition.

RL: VRA’s winning streak has brought these two sides much closer together on the table, where in terms of raw ability (and inherent weaknesses) they probably should have been all along. VRA have added a whole new dimension to the concept of a slow start, but the transformation effected by Peter Borren’s return to the captaincy makes them a danger to anyone they now face. With VOC and Dosti this weekend, followed by Sparta, Quick Haag and Voorburg, they may not only save their own skins but cause a fair degree of misery elsewhere. But VOC represent one of their tougher remaining assignments, and as m’colleague observes, encounters between these two sides have traditionally been close, hard-fought affairs – going all the way back to the 1990s. VOC’s three internationals are balanced by VRA’s one current and two former Dutch players, and which trio performs better on the day may prove to be the critical factor.

BdJ: VRA will be back in action at the Bos the following day as Dosti-United make the trip across the Amstel fresh from the absolute shellacking they handed to Sparta last week. However brittle they have looked across the season, it’s fair to say VRA’s experienced line-up will put up rather stiffer resistance than Sparta could muster last Sunday, but Dosti, and especially Anees Davids, will be riding high when they arrive in Amstelveen. At least as concerning for the hosts, Dosti’s intimidating top-order almost all have some runs under their belt from the last few rounds, and the Drieburg side no longer looks like a one-man show with the bat. Both sides look to be belatedly hitting their stride having underperformed for much of the summer, but Dosti still look odds-on to take another two points off their Amsterdam rivals come Sunday.

RL: Few sides can manage two wins over a double weekend, and should VRA overcome VOC on Saturday they may be hard-pressed to make it two out of two against Dosti, whose top six is as menacing as any in the competition. A lot may depend on whether Vinoo Tewarie calls correctly: as I have suggested before, Dosti look a much better side batting first than they do when chasing, and if VRA can get past the threat of Davids and Kuldeep Diwan and set a decent target, then they might just get the upper hand. They came close to a successful chase when the sides met at Drieburg, boosted by an outstanding Ben Cooper hundred, but with Abhinav Bali now established in the Dosti top order they could find themselves again facing an uphill battle if they have to bowl first.

BdJ: Meanwhile VOC head across to Schiedam for their second match of the weekend, taking on table-toppers Excelsior ‘20 at Thurlede. Excelsior looked less-than-convincing with the bat as they saw off their nearest rivals ACC in a low-scoring scrap at Het Loopveld last week, but once again, even with just 158 on the board, they found a way to win. Discipline and determination in the field was the Schiedammers’ greatest asset last week, and given VOC’s reliance on their three Dutch internationals for runs, containment may again prove a winning strategy, the Rotterdammers lacking both the batting depth to take real risks and the bowling attack to reliably hold opposition to modest totals.

RL: VOC may play a crucial role in deciding the championship, since they play all three of the leading sides in the course of the run in. Whether they have the all-round power to beat Excelsior is doubtful, though: Tom Heggelman’s side has emerged as a textbook example of a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts, and it must be a comfort to them that even when Lorenzo Ingram and Brenton Parchment are less than dominant with the bat they are able to make up for it with the ball – and in the field. With Heggelman himself, Rens van Troost and Sohail Bhatti all bowling well, the leaders can defend low totals, although they may have to go up a gear against O’Dowd, Seelaar and Edwards.

BdJ: After missing their chance to leapfrog Excelsior last week, ACC will want to avoid slipping further behind on Sunday when they head to Bermweg to take on the beleaguered Sparta 1888, who are now just a single point clear of the relegation spot after an abject performance at Drieburg. Boasting the league’s two leading wicket-takers in Brady Barends and Saqib Zulfiqar, ACC will likely feel confident of rolling Sparta for a total even their misfiring batting will have little trouble with. On that front the Amsterdammers have looked increasingly dependent on Jean Marais at the top of the order however, with the rest of the batting card struggling to maintain early form. If there is a one-on-one battle likely to prove decisive it is doubtless that of Marais and the evergreen Mudassar Bukhari, who has looked his old self and then some this season.

RL: Having collapsed twice in succession ACC’s batting must now be a subject of serious concern in Amstelveen, though not nearly as much as Sparta’s after last week’s debacle against Dosti. Another defeat might well put ACC out of the running for the title altogether – depending on results elsewhere – while Sparta’s slide towards the bottom of the table means they also have to start conjuring victories from somewhere. Their attack always looks a shade more effective at the Bermweg, but it’s hard to believe that a batting line-up which includes Marais and the Zulfiqar brothers will fail again, even if the middle and lower order seem currently unable to contribute a great deal. The imponderable, of course, is what events at Drieburg last Sunday have done to Sparta’s morale: they will have to regroup very quickly if they are to have any chance against the Amsterdam side.

BdJ: Safe to say that Quick Haag will be hoping for an ACC victory on Sunday, giving them a chance to steal a march on their relegation rivals when they take on HBS Craeyenhout at Nieuw Hanenburg. Taking two points off their local rivals remains a tall order for the Hanen, however, the Crows’ spectacular collapse against VRA an aberration unlikely to be repeated. There were more positives to be drawn from Quick’s defeat last week than that of HBS, though, most notably Jeroen Brand and Doc Mol lifting them past 200 despite the early loss of Jay Bista. But they will likely need their Mumbaiker MVP to fire on Sunday if they are to have any hope of matching HBS for firepower, or for his compatriot Prathamesh Dake to make swift inroads into a rattled but still dangerous HBS top order.

RL: The farmyard battle between the neighbours in the Bosjes van Pex is one of the great Dutch derbies, and if HBS are now somewhat off the pace – though not yet mathematically out of the title contest – their hosts have a very great deal at stake. It’s true that Tobias Visée’s men had an off-day last week, as they did against Voorburg earlier in the season, but it does seem unlikely that that lightning will strike again on Sunday. Dake is, of course, capable of shaking them up, but it’s more probable that normal service will be restored and that they will again post a winning total, whether setting or chasing. The wild card is, as always, Bista: if he gets going, the Nieuw Hanenburg public could again be in for a treat. The same applies, though, to Visée and Wesley Barresi, while with Zac Elkin and Sharn Gomes as foils the HBS top four is collectively a class better than Quick’s line-up.

BdJ: The final match of the round sees HCC, now in second place behind Excelsior on 8 wins from 11, take on the much-fancied but thus-far disappointing Voorburg at Westvliet. Now nine points adrift of the top-spot, VCC will have likely put their title ambitions on hold for another year, but retain the quality to beat anyone in the competition. HCC will nonetheless start as favourites on form, with a top five all enjoying seasons ranging from the solid to the exemplary. Voorburg’s much-vaunted new-ball pairing of Vivian Kingma and Brandon Glover have delivered on occasion, but not with the regularity needed for VCC to mount a title challenge given their disappointing efforts with the bat. Facing off against Itagi, Staal, Wiffen, Street and Gorlee, the pair will have their work cut out for them on Sunday.

RL: Nor should we forget the contribution of Hidde Overdijk with the ball: his four-wicket haul against Quick last week set up HCC’s victory, and his consistency has been a significant factor in taking his side to their current elevated position. HCC’s matches against Excelsior and ACC in the first two weeks of August may well determine where the championship cup resides this winter, but this visit to Westvliet is scarcely less important for the Lions in their pursuit of a record 39th title (49th if we include the ten won by HCC II). Soft dismissals have been the bane of Voorburg’s season, and with the side facing one of the tougher programmes over the last five weeks they must be looking to provide stiffer resistance against an HCC attack which – Overdijk apart – is tidy rather than devastating.

BdJ’s tips: VRA, Excelsior, Dosti, ACC, HBS, HCC.

RL’s tips: VOC, Excelsior, VRA, ACC, HBS, HCC.

Rod Lyall and Bertus de Jong 11/07/19

This week’s round features what may prove to be the most decisive match of the entire Topklasse campaign, with leaders Excelsior ’20 facing the side they displaced last Sunday, ACC. At the other end of the table, VRA Amsterdam and Quick Haag take on tough challenges against the remaining teams from the top four, respectively HBS Craeyenhout and HCC.

RL: While the chance of these sides finishing level at the end of the season have been greatly diminished by last week’s tie, the encounter between Excelsior and ACC at Het Loopveld is of vital importance to both teams. The Schiedammers won their earlier clash at Thurlede, and a repeat performance here would lift them three points clear of their rivals, while ACC would leapfrog back to the top of the table if they evened the score. How badly the Amsterdammers’ confidence has been dented by their dramatic collapse against Voorburg, and how effectively they can throw it off, are obviously key factors, while Excelsior’s failure to overhaul Sparta’s relatively modest total – however much the one point from the tie may have been a consolation prize – will cause them some concern as well. Both attacks, though, have been performing well, with Tom Heggelman and Rens van Troost taking wickets for the visitors and Brady Barends and Saqib Zulfiqar doing the damage for ACC. Form suggests a low-scoring game, but a big innings from one of the top order for either side would likely settle the matter in his team’s favour.

BdJ: The combination of (no) results thus far has indeed effectively taken net run rate out of the equation at both ends of the table, but without question Sunday’s clash at het Loopveld is a true four-pointer. A three point lead would put Excelsior in full control of the table, likely needing only three wins from five to reclaim the title. Whilst their two Jamaican pros hit the ground running early in the season, it has taken a while for the rest of the side to hit their stride. Yet of late they have looked a more complete side, with Etman and Verhagen finding some form with the bat too. A longish tail remains their chief weakness, though it’s one that they share with their rivals for the top spot. Jean Marais’ promotion to the openers slot has paid off on occasion, notably against VRA, but leaves them looking more top-heavy than most. Early wickets, as they say, will be key.

RL: Having been unable to take advantage of the leaders’ travails, HCC will be keen to avoid any further slip-up when they take on relegation-threatened Quick Haag at De Diepput. Given that Quick’s bowling strength is mostly in the seam department the fact that VRA’s spinners took three wickets apiece against HCC may be less relevant than otherwise, and the other side of that coin is that Quick conceded 338 against VOC. As always, Jay Bista is the potential trump card, but with Adam Wiffen and Bryce Street in their line-up and Boris Gorlee playing his best Topklasse innings to date last week, HCC seem well-placed to match his influence and to counter the threat posed by his compatriot Prathamesh Dake. Quick will need all their support acts to be at their best if they are to overcome the all-round strength of HCC, who will certainly start as firm favourites.

BdJ: The quick-fire century in a losing cause is becoming something of a trademark for Jay Bista, much to his own irritation, one suspects. It’s not hard to imagine another come Sunday, as a big Bista score has generally proved necessary but not sufficient for a Quick victory. As much as quantity of runs, Quick are unduly dependent on the Mumbaiker to drive the scoring. Whilst Doc Mol has provided regular support and others have chipped in on occasion, Bista has had to score twice as fast of any of his partners to keep the scoreboard ticking at a moderate rate. Quick’s attack will have to substantially up their game if they are to hold HCC to a modest total, or risk again leaving Bista with too much to do.

RL: Suddenly the match between HBS Craeyenhout and VRA Amsterdam has become a mouth-watering prospect between what should be two of the more entertaining teams in the competition. HBS have, of course, been running up big totals and pressuring opponents into defeat all season, but the resurgence of VRA with Peter Borren back at the helm has enlivened things enormously, and not just the battle to avoid relegation. Emile van den Burg celebrated his release with his first century for four years a couple of weeks ago, but it was Borren and Eric Szwarczynski who put their side in a winning position against HCC. With Vikram Singh, still a work in progress, and Ben Cooper, VRA have a top five to match the home side’s, and capable of totals even their vulnerable attack can defend. That said, HBS have the superior record and a better-balanced side, and know they need to keep winning to keep pace with the top three.

BdJ: For all the inconsistency of VRA’s underperforming top order, it is the bowling that has really let them down this season. On that front there is cause for optimism however, with Gunning and Graber beginning to find some rhythm and Ben Cooper’s continued improvement bolstering the spin section. HBS remain favourites come Sunday though. Even if VRA are perhaps unfortunate to be playing them two weeks before they lose Toby Visée to the GT20, his role remains wildcard rather than linchpin with the rest of the top four all in the top six of the batting averages. Improving or no, it’s difficult to see the VRA attack containing them.

RL: A coldly dispassionate eye might suggest that Sparta 1888 have outperformed their strength on paper, at least on occasions, by as much as Dosti United have underperformed theirs. How else to account for the fact that a side which boasts the talents of Taruwar Kohli, Anees Davids, Abhinav Bali, Kuldeep Diwan and Amitoze Singh, not to mention former Dutch internationals Vinoo Tewarie and Rahil Ahmed, has suffered the same number of defeats as the much more modestly-equipped Capelle team? But Sparta amply demonstrated their fighting qualities in achieving that tie with Excelsior last Sunday, while for Dosti Kohli again found himself in a largely lone battle in pursuit of an imposing target. None of which will prevent Dosti starting as favourites when the sides meet at Sportpark Drieburg this week, although those odds could be narrowed somewhat should the home team be bowling first – Dosti are much more effective batting first, and Sparta have the knack of finding someone to step up as required. Last week it was Andrew Fletcher, who seems at last to have adjusted to Dutch conditions.

BdJ: Fair to say that Dosti have the more impressive roster of the two, with talents previously kept in the second team by the old rules now making their presence felt in the Topklasse, but Kohli remains the only consistent performer for the Amsterdammers and even he is having a quiet season by his admittedly high standards. Sparta, meanwhile, have had to carry their underperforming pros for the first half of the season, and if Fletcher, like Tarr, has belatedly found some form their line-up looks rather stronger than their place on the table would suggest. And as to former Dutch internationals, it must be said that Mudassar Bukhari is currently enjoying a rather more productive retirement than Ahmed or Tewarie.

RL: The contrast between the victories of VOC Rotterdam and Voorburg last Sunday could scarcely be starker: VOC won the highest-scoring game of the day after seeing off a stern Jay Bista challenge, while Voorburg were dismissed for 122 – fewer than VOC’s Max O’Dowd made on his own – and still won by 47 runs. So the clash between these two mid-table sides at Hazelaarweg this week presents an intriguing prospect: a batting side whose big guns are scoring prolifically against what is perhaps the most potent attack in the competition, and one whose top and middle order has been consistently disappointing against bowling which has tended to lack impact. The key for Voorburg will be to get rid of O’Dowd early and to limit the impact of Pieter Seelaar and Scott Edwards, and by the same token, VOC will be looking to cut through a surprisingly fragile Voorburg top five. It’s the first of these two which will likely determine the destination of the points.

BdJ: At the start of the season, few would have predicted that the absence of Umar Baker would have such a dramatic effect on the title-holders’ fortunes. Yet with a spin-friendly home ground and O’Dowd experimenting unsuccessfully with leg-spin for half a season the loss of ten overs of solid spin has been telling. VOC didn’t lose a single game at home in 2018, this season they’ve lost four already. If the batting is reliant on their three Dutch internationals, it’s not clear who the bowling should depend on, with VOC using an average of eight different bowlers in each of their past five games. VCC’s top order has indeed underperformed all season, but then they may look at a trip to Hazelaarweg as a chance to play themselves back into form.

Rod Lyall’s tips: Excelsior, HCC, HBS, Dosti, VOC.
Bertus de Jong’s tips: Excelsior, HCC, HBS, Sparta, VCC.