Category: Preview 2025 TK

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

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.

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 09/05/25

Just two weeks in and yet it already feels like the Dutch cricket season is in full swing, the international summer underway at VRA and the Topklasse entering round four, the table taking on a not entirely unexpected shape despite a few early surprises.

BdJ: At the top end of the table the two unbeaten sides, Hermes DVS and Kampong are set for a showdown at the Loopuyt Oval, with the clear pole position at stake. Thus far Hermes have been finding ways to win off the back of scores around the 200-mark, but that’s unlikely to be enough against a Kampong side that’s racked up two 300+ scores and a chase of 92 in ten overs already. Even with Edwards and O’Dowd still on international duty, Kampong’s new overseas trio of Lane Berry, Lachlan Bangs and Lorenzo Ingram have been delivering runs in abundance for their new side, while Daniel Doyle-Calle is the only Hermes bat to have passed 100 runs already, despite only playing two games. He’ll be hoping for a little more support from the rest of the line-up, and despite three impressive showings from the Hermes attack you’d have to say they start as underdogs at home.

RL: Hermes’ bowlers have done the job for them so far, but this will undoubtedly be the stiffest test they have faced. With nine wickets at an average of 8.00, new boy Hikmatullah Jabarkhail has been their trump card so far, and even without the injured Olivier Elenbaas the pace attack has been consistently effective as well. But whether they have the collective fire-power to contain Kampong’s batting is doubtful, although they will establish themselves as serious title contenders if they succeed. On the other side of the equation, Pierre Jacod shares the top of the wicket-taking table with Jabarkhail, and the achievements of the batters has perhaps obscured just how well the Kampong bowlers have been doing. The newly-promoted side doesn’t have an obvious weakness, even when it’s two internationals short, and it does seem likely that they will be on their own at the top of the tree by Saturday evening.

BdJ: Third-placed VRA, currently hosting the ongoing CWC League 2 ODI series at Amstelveen, are consequently on the road again come Saturday facing a tricky trip to Bermweg to take on the Sparta 1888, the latter still looking for their first win but having shown some fight in at least two of their three defeats. The Spartans managed to find early wickets against both Voorburg and HBS, even if the sub-250 totals they were defending proved inadequate in the end. VRA’s batting looks somewhat brittle in the absence of internationals Singh, Nidamanuru and Ahmad, who will all be on duty with the Dutch on Saturday, collapsing to 116 all out in pursuit of a similar sort of total against Hermes on Monday. They’ll look to deputy skipper Johan Smal to rally the somewhat ad-hoc squad assembled in the internationals’ absence, and to anchor a batting line-up that does not lack for depth on paper, but failed to deliver on Monday.

RL: We’re at the point already where the top of the mid-table threatens to detach itself from the bottom, and all the remaining games on Saturday pit teams from third to sixth against those whose main priority is to steer well clear of the perilous eighth place and the automatic relegation spots below it. Conversely, dropping points at this stage would put a big dent in their opponents’ goal of keeping pace with the leaders. So there will be a great deal to play for at the Bermweg, and Joost-Martijn Snoep will be hoping that he and his new-ball partner Ahsan Malik can put VRA’s top order under pressure. He will also, no doubt, be looking to Lukas Boorer and Kyle Klesse to deliver with the bat, but the visitors’ seam unit of Ben Fletcher, Peter Ruffell and Ashir Abid is one part of their set-up which is not affected by the national team’s commitments, and it, along with the batting of Smal, could be the key to the side’s hopes of staying in the hunt for the title they just missed out on last year.

BdJ: In fourth place, the much-fancied Voorburg welcome the less heralded Excelsior ‘20 to Westvliet, and while even just a week ago it would hard to imagine dubbing this a tough game to call, the form of Excelsior’s batting line-up combined with HCC dismantling the Voorburg attack on Monday has put a rather different shine on things. With young Stan van Troost having amassed 200 runs in his last 2 innings and new overseas Raynard van Tonder also averaging over 50, the Schiedammers’ batting suddenly looks like a strength rather than a liability. Last season’s lead wicket-taking Jason Ralston hasn’t quite found his rhythm yet, but if he and newcomer Antum Naqvi hit their stride one might imagine Excelsior challenging the top of the table. VCC also have two bats in the current top five though, with Gavin Kaplan continuing where he left off last season and young Cedric de Lange also stiking his maiden Topklasse ton last week. It was in the bowling department where Voorburg looked to be most lacking, missing their spearhead in Viv Kingma owing to Dutch duties. They will look to Mees van Vliet and Tom de Leede to shoulder more responsibility, and of course that the wrist spin of Hatzoglou and de Lange finds more purchase back on home turf.

RL: Hatzoglou going wicketless last seek after he had mesmerised VOC the week before was possibly a decisive factor in HCC’s victory, and Kaplan will be hoping that he can tame an Excelsior batting line-up which, as m’colleague observes, has the potential to steer the side well away from the danger area, and conceivably into a place among the leaders. Van Tonder’s near-century last Saturday was a courageous effort, and with allrounder Naqvi yet to show what he can do with the bat, the Schiedammers have the equipment to make opposing bowlers suffer. Voorburg, of course, have plenty of batting of their own, even without Michael Levitt, Bas de Leede and Noah Croes, and with Carl Mumba slotting into the middle order alongside Henry Melville they will represent a considerable threat to an Excelsior attack which is not yet firing on all cylinders.

BdJ: Meanwhile De Diepput will be gearing up for the Hague derby as HCC take on old rivals HBS Craeyenhout. Having just flogged VCC for 328 runs with time to spare on the same ground last week, the HCC bats will already be casting a predatory eye over a Kyle Klein-less HBS attack. HCC skipper Boris Gorlee currently leads the season run aggregates, but after a shambolic season opener practically the whole top order got runs under their belt last weekend. HBS meanwhile have needed former skipper Wes Barresi to try to hold the batting together, with mixed results. He dragged them to their first win of the season over Sparta last week, but the Crows will want more from the top of the order on Saturday

RL: Untroubled by the Dutch selectors and clearly starting to bring it all together with Gorlee leading from the front, HCC showed great resilience in chasing down a 300-plus target last Saturday, and they will be supremely confident against an HBS side whose season so far has gone in fits and starts. Talismanic captain Tayo Walbrugh has got starts without yet playing a really decisive innings, while with two runs from three knocks Lehan Botha has had a nightmare start to his campaign. Walbrugh’s decision to rely so heavily on spin paid off against Sparta, and it will be interesting to see whether he adopts the same policy, especially the tactic of opening with Barresi as well as Jayden Rossouw, against the Lions’ much more menacing line-up on a ground which offers plenty of rewards for hard hitters.

BdJ: Finally 2024 champions Punjab-Ghausia will be looking to get their title defence back on track when they welcome the winless, hapless VOC Rotterdam to the Zomercomplex, and could hardly ask for a less taxing assignment. While Punjab suffered two defeats in three days, the batting collapsing against VRA and then the bowling dismantled by Kampong, their opponents have not looked close to getting a win all season. While the VOC batting efforts have improved somewhat from the opening 86 all out, Danish international Monty Singh the stand-out, the Bloodhounds’ bowling attack has now twice given up 320+ scores, collectively averaging 57 with the ball and giving up some 6.7 runs per over. While neither side has had the start to the season that they’d have hoped for, Punjab do look the likelier of the two to turn things around.

RL: The statistics for VOC do indeed look bleak, but they are a fair reflection of their performances on the park so far. Punjab have the great advantage of being a settled team with an outstanding record, while the Bloodhounds have yet to cohere around their three new overseas, of whom the confusingly-named Singh a.k.a. TS Bharaj has been the most convincing; if VOC are to get away from the bottom of the table they will need Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer to play much more significant roles than they have been able to do in the first three games. Their opponents have potential match-winners with both bat and ball, Mohsin Riaz, Saqib and Sikander Zulfiqar, Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas all proven forces, with the evergreen Suleiman Tariq always guaranteed to wheel away to great effect in the opening powerplay. It would take a dramatic reversal of form here for VOC to leave the Zomercomplex with the points.

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

RL’s picks: Kampong, VRA, Voorburg, HCC, Punjab.

Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 01/05/25

Less than a week since the opening round it already feels like the season’s in full swing, the UAE and Scotland in town for the upcoming ODI tri-series and a double round of Topklasse games over the holiday weekend. The former will impact the latter in part of course, with the Dutch national side going into sequestration on Sunday and thus unavailable for round three, though Saturday’s games will be unaffected. The table’s about as starkly divided as it could be after just one round, with the opening round’s games ranging from the rather one-sided to total blow-outs. We’ll be hoping for some more even contests in the coming days, though only two of last week’s winners meet each other in round 2.

BdJ: Defending champion’s Punjab-Ghausia welcome 2024 runners-up VRA Amsterdam to the Zomercomplex for that match, the title-holders coming off the back of a five-wicket win over HBS. Punjab didn’t have it all their way last week, at one point finding themselves 60-4 chasing 239, but Mohsin Riaz’ accelerating 111 off 85 proved more than enough for the points in the end. They’ll be without Saqib Zulfiqar for the weekend however, and possibly longer depending on the severity of his hamstring injury. Sikander Zulfiqar is also understood to have picked up a niggle during his unbeaten 80 last week, while of course VRA will be at full strength for Saturday’s game. Their home win over Excelsior last weekend was altogether more convincing, only debutant Raynard van Tonder breaking double figures for the visitors as VRA sealed a clinical 168-run win. They’ll take particular heart from the form of deputy skipper Johan Smal, who looked the best bat on the park in round one and who, still a few months away from Dutch eligibility, will be key to VRA’s fortunes when the Dutch selectors come calling.

RL: This replay of last year’s grand final will tell us a lot about the state of both sides going into the new season. Injuries to the Zulfiqars and the departure of their brother Asad apart, Punjab are largely unchanged from the team which took the title, although the significance of the loss of Saqib and perhaps Sikander should not be underestimated. VRA, on the other hand, have changed nearly half their side, although it was the familiar figures of Singh, Smal and Nidamanuru who were the foundation of their round-topping total against Excelsior and Shariz who finished the Schiedammers off. It’s a reasonable expectation that both Punjab and VRA will be in the title-chasing mix again come the pointy end of the competition, and while it’s too early to talk about four-pointers, a win here could be enormously valuable later on, not least in psychological terms.

BdJ: Currently top of the table though (if only by way of net run rate), are recently re-promoted Kampong, who will be looking to make the most of Scott Edwards and Max O’Dowd’s abilities while they’re available. They travel to Thurlede to take on Excelsior come Saturday, and based on both sides’ early showings the visitors will be strong favourites. Excelsior seemed to still be in winter hibernation in the field against VRA last weekend, dropped catches and misfields punctuating the first innings with appalling regularity, and were little better with the bat. Van Tonder looks a solid signing, and with equally exciting acquisition Antum Naqvi expected to arrive this week they should be at full strength at least, but absent a substantially improved showing from the local contingent Excelsior look genuine relegation candidates this season.

RL: It was Kampong’s balanced attack which really took the eye last Sunday, and while VOC’s poor showing with the bat isn’t a great basis for judgement, Alex Roy’s side will be hoping to repeat the dose against an Excelsior line-up which suffered a similar collapse first time out. But by the same token, Lane Berry’s whirlwind innings to finish things off and generate that enviable NRR was an indication that Kampong’s top order is also not to be trifled with, with Max O’Dowd happy to play a secondary role and Scott Edwards and Lorenzo Ingram able to sit that one out. The Dutch management may be hoping that O’Dowd and Edwards get more time in the middle this Saturday, but doubtless Kampong would be happy with the points however they come. Excelsior need to bounce back fast, and the arrival of Naqvi should give Van Tonder some comfort and the batting a greater level of confidence. In the end, though, two swallows don’t make a summer, and as m’learned friend observes, the Schiedammers’ comparatively experienced locals, who only managed 15 runs between them against VRA, will need to give their overseas a lot more support if the side is to scramble its way to mid-table and safety.

BdJ: Having seen VOC Rotterdam collapse in a heap at Maarschalkerweerd last week Voorburg may well be looking forward to welcoming the Bloodhounds to Westvliet. Tim de Kok’s captain’s knock of 14 off 28 is the top score for his side thus far this season, and they will have to muster something more substantial if they’re to trouble their hosts for round two. The VOC bowlers hardly had a chance to give an account of themselves of course, and Arnav Jain at least has had a chance to get some overs under his belt with the Dutch A side this week, but he will also have witnessed the form of Voorburg quicks Viv Kingma and Mees van Vliet, the latter especially impressing against the Emiratis on Tuesday, while Michael Levitt looked in belligerent form with the bat. Add to that the presence of Bas de Leede in the country and on the Voorburg list, to say nothing of Gavin Kaplan and the astutely-poached Udit Nashier, and fair to say VOC have their work cut out for them come Saturday.

RL: Voorburg’s four national team members – including the now-exotic Bas de Leede – will be able to use this game as preparation for the League 2 fixtures to come, but for that to be a useful exercise VOC will need to put up a considerably greater fight than they did against a rampant Kampong last week. With Noah Croes and Levitt in ominous form and Gavin Kaplan likewise, the Bloodhounds’ attack will need a succession of early wickets to give their side a change, whether the Villagers are setting or chasing. On the other hand, Tom de Leede didn’t look out of place sharing the new ball with Kingma against Sparta, while Nashier and Levitt did a fine job in the middle overs against a batting side which fought every inch of the way. Like Kampong, Voorburg will want to extract maximum benefit from their cohort of internationals when they’re available, and VOC, like Excelsior, will need a much bigger contribution from their locally-produced batters, not to mention sizeable ones from their new overseas, Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer. But an away win here would constitute the upset of the round, if not the season.

BdJ: Meanwhile Hermes DVS will be looking to keep the momentum going after an impressive opening win over HCC when they take on HBS Craeyenhout at the Loopuyt Oval. HBS made Punjab work for their win in round one, and while early talk of Heino Kuhn and Roelof van der Merwe both committing to the Crows for the season proved ill-founded, a cameo from the latter at least can’t be entirely ruled out on Saturday. He would be a welcome addition to an HBS attack that has looked somewhat innocuous, Kyle Klein excepted, while the batting also looks a tad top-heavy, needing a personal-best effort from young Elmar Boendermaker last week to get them past 200. Hermes conversely looked more than the sum of their parts last week, even without the injured Oli Elenbaas and star bat Daniel Doyle-Calle. The latter should be back in the country having missed the opener due to commitments with Spain, though Elenbaas’ fitness remains in doubt. Doyle-Calle may find he has to fight for his place at the top of the order after Aryan Dutt’s showing in the opener’s slot last week, though that does seem like one of those good problems to have for Hermes. The bowling attack did a number on HCC last week, and Sahil Kothari’s return brings some much-needed balance to the side. While the sky-blues currently lack a strike bowler of genuine international pedigree, they’re unlikely to send down many bad overs on Saturday.

RL: With half-centuries from Klein and Boendermaker I’d be inclined to say the Crows’ batting effort last week was, if anything, a little bottom-heavy, but there’s no question that it was something of a curate’s egg. The bowling, though, looked sharp until Riaz and Sikander took the game away from them, and the encounter between the new-ball attack of Botha and Kyle Klein and the Hermes top three of Dutt, Ash Ostling and Doyle-Calle (in whatever order they appear) should be one to relish. Beyond that, Hermes will be looking for more from the rest of their batting, which quietly subsided after a great start. Conversely, the contest between the Sky-blues’ attack and an HBS top order which has more class than it was able to display against Punjab – especially when the spinners took over – promises to be absorbing, and in Hikmatullah Jabarkhail Hermes may have picked up a serious match-winner. This has all the makings of the game of the round, with both sides knowing that this is the sort of match which could be crucial in the battle for a place in the top seven.

BdJ: Finally Sparta 1888 welcome HCC to Bermweg with both sides still looking for their first points, though one imagines the hosts will be happier with their efforts in their season opener than their guests. While the Spartans ultimately had no answer to Gavin Kaplan and Bas de Leede’s match-winning partnership last week, they did battle their way to the second-highest first innings total of the round in the face of VCC’s enviable bowling attack, with runs all down the order. They may fancy their chances against a demoralised and misfiring HCC side that looked like they had overdone the King’s Day celebrations last weekend, but it’s unlikely that the Haagse rock up quite as ragged for round two.

RL: This, too, could be the most competitive of the day, but for reasons neither side will welcome. Barring a tie, somebody’s going to remain on nul points, and even at this early stage that’s not somewhere you want to be. HCC will be especially keen to get their campaign back on track, and they can take some comfort from the fact that their bowlers fought back well after a shaky start against Hermes. Hidde Overdijk was more influential with the ball than he was for much of last season, and Oliver White and Josh Brown did enough to suggest they will be a force, with Henrico Venter slotting back in as well. But the batting was, frankly, terrible, and that will need to be fixed fast, initially against a Sparta outfit which features the cutting-edges of Ahsan Malik and Khalid Ahmadi alongside the equally experienced spin of Umar Baker and Manminder Singh. Tough one to call, but HCC can’t disappoint so greatly two weeks in a row. Can they?

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