Category: Review

Rod Lyall 14/09/25

Dutch autumn weather did its best to spoil the party on Saturday, but at Schiedam’s Loopuyt Oval at least cricket had the last word, the finals of both the Women’s T20 and men’s Topklasse T20 Cups achieving a result.

Both matches were curtailed by the rain, the side which won the toss electing to field and thereby gaining the considerable advantage of chasing a severely reduced target.

In the women’s match Quick Haag got in their full 20 overs against HCC, reaching 143 for five thanks to a splendid 68-ball 86 from opener Annemijn Thomson, who was supported in a second-wicket stand of 80 by Luisa Ekelmans (25 at a run a ball).

Iris Zwilling was the pick of the HCC bowlers, her four overs conceding just 7 runs for the wicket of Thomson’s opening partner Alarda Mol.

Then the weather intervened, and HCC were set a reduced target of 36 from five overs, a task which they were untroubled in achieving for the loss of one wicket with three deliveries to spare, Frédérique Overdijk seeing them home with an unbeaten 21 from 16 balls.

HCC’s men found the show on the other foot soon afterwards, when VRA captain Teja Nidamanuru won the toss and elected to field.

Who the Lions would be facing had been in doubt for much of the week, after Voorburg, who had lost to VRA in a semi-final, challenged that result on the grounds that their opponents had played an ineligible player in Shirase Rasool.

Rasool, they claimed, had played an insufficient number of matches in the round robin phase, but in a last-minute decision the Appeals Committee ruled that he had indeed been qualified to play under the KNCB’s complex Playing Conditions.

Having been cleared to contest the final the Amsterdammers immediately seized the initiative, Nidamanuru himself taking a low return catch to remove Clayton Floyd with the first ball of the second over, and Ben Fletcher having Oliver White caught by Johan Smal off the first ball of the next.

When Boris Gorlee edged the first ball of the sixth,bowled by Peter Ruffell, through to keeper Jack Cassidy it was 17 for three, and although Shirsak Banerjee got off the mark with a boundary, HCC were struggling with 25 on the board when the players were forced from the field two balls into the seventh.

A long delay followed, and when Mark Wolfe and Banerjee resumed the innings had been reduced to just 11 overs a side.

Almost immediately Shariz Ahmad removed Banerjee and Hidde Overdijk with successive deliveries, but Wolfe (20) and Daniel Crowley (18 from 10 deliveriesI doubled the score before Nidamanuru accounted for both in the final over, and HCC closed on 65 for seven.

That was adjusted to 66 by DLS, and Rasool gave VRA’s reply a flying start, top-edging Crowley to third man for four before twice smacking him over long on for six.

Trying to make it three in a row he was caught by Hidde Overdijk on the boundary for a four-ball 16, and then Nidamanuru took up the challenge, carving White through backward point for four before twice lofting him over long on for two more.

He got under the next and was caught in the deep by Teun Leijer, but VRA had almost reached the halfway mark inside two overs.

By the time Clayton Floyd had Vikram Singh caught at cow only 24 more were required, and Sma’s 11-ball 19 took VRA to within two runs of their target, Shariz and Cassidy finishing it off two balls into the seventh over.

The weather had ensured that it was far from being a classic, but it gave VRA their fifth T20 Cup final victory.

There was a less satisfactory outcome at the Zomercomplex, where ACC had reached 17 for two in 4.1 overs against Kampong Utrecht before the players left the field, never to return.

There is no provision for a replay in the Hoofdklasse Cup final, so Kampong are champions by virtue of having topped the table after the round robin phase, and will now meet VOC Rotterdam, again at the Zomercomplex, on Sunday to decide which of the two plays in the Topklasse T20 Cup next season.

Rod Lyall 08/09/25

Winning the toss and batting proved to be the winning strategy in the T20 Cup semi-finals on Sunday, as HCC and VRA set their opponents targets of eight an over or just short of it and marched into next week’s final.

HCC suffered an early setback against Hermes-DVS at De Diepput when Oliver White clattered his own stumps while attempting to hit Aryan Dutt into the Van Hogenhoucklaan, but then Clayton Floyd and skipper Boris Gorlee added 80 for the second wicket in ten overs before Gorlee was stumped off Hikmatullah Jabarkhail for a 35-ball 67 which included eight fours and three sixes.

Floyd had been much more subdued, but he opened out after his captain’s departure, going after Jabarkhail and reaching 26 before he was dismissed by Olivier Elenbaas.

Hidde Overdijk and Thijs Vrolijk added 27 in the final three overs to take their side to 156 for six, Elenbaas claiming two for 27 and Braat conceding just 23 runs in his four overs.

Daniel Doyle-Calle and Ash Ostling put on 18 from the first three overs, but a moment’s hesitation by Doyle when he was called through by his partner for a single to midwicket cost him his wicket, Hidde Overdijk’s direct hit finding him just short.

Teun Leijer removed Ostling in the next over, and when Jan-Wieger Overdijk dismissed Ralph Elenbaas Hermes were in trouble at 34 for three.

Olivier Elenbaas (22 from 19 deliveries) and Dutt (17 from 16) added 29, but then Floyd removed Dutt and Justin Trijzelaar claimed Elebaas and Asad Zulfiqar in the next over, and at 66 for six with eight overs left the issue was effectively settled.

Braat and Mussayab Jamil did their best to turn the game around, putting on 43 from 23 deliveries, but another double-wicket over from Trijzelaar, this time including Braat for 19, followed by Hidde Overdijk’s dismissal ofJamil for a 13-ball 21, ended the revival, and Hermes were all out for 121 with one over remaining.

Trijzelaar finished with four for 28, Hidde Overdijk claiming two for 18.

At Westvliet, VRA were given a decent start against Voorburg by Vikram Singh and Shirase Rasool, although the former was well below his hard-hitting best in making a 20-ball 16 and the Amsterdammers suffered a further setback when Rasool, who had looked in very good touch as he made 41 from 25 deliveries, was forced to retire ill with the total on 67 for one after nine overs.

Cedric de Lange showed his versatility by removing Teja Nidamanuru and Shariz Ahmad in successive overs, finishing with two for 10 from his two overs, but Jack Cassidy (36 from 22) and Ibaad Zaidi (25 not out from 18) added 60 for the fifth wicket, and VRA closed on 159 for seven.

Nidamanuru removed the dangerous De Lange in the second over of Voorburg’s reply, and then Ben Fletcher had the equally dangerous Noah Croes caught behind by Cassidy to reduce the chasers to 10 for two.

Waseem Mohsen, however, was still at the other end, and his 42-ball 58 kept his side in the game; but when he was well caught by Singh at long on off Fletcher the score was 99 for five, and 61 were still required from 33 deliveries.

That was a big ask, and despite a 25-ball 30 from Ryan Klein Voorburg could only manage 137 for eight, 23 runs short of their target.

Fletcher finished with four for 25 and Peter Ruffell two for 27.

So the final, to be played at Sportpark Harga in Schiedam next Saturday, will be between HCC, trying to take the Cup for the second time, and VRA, who have won it four times, most recentlyin 2020.

Rod Lyall 07/09/25

The battle for semi-final places in the Topklasse T20 Cup produced a thrilling climax on Saturday, as Punjab-Ghausia fell just three runs short of Hermes-DVS’s 160 for five, and saw themselves edged out of the top four by the narrowest of net run rate margins.

Starting the final round on top of the table but with a distinct NRR disadvantage compared with their closest rivals, Punjab needed a victory to make absolutely sure of a spot in Sunday’s semi-finals.

But after winning the toss and putting Hermes in, Sikander Zulfiqar saw the Schiedammers accumulate a challenging total, thanks to opener Daniel Doyle-Calle’s 30-ball 40 and a stand of 76 for the fourth wicket between Olivier Elenbaas, who made 37 from 29 deliveries, and Aryan Dutt, whose 26-ball 50 ensured that Punjab would have a significant chase on their hands.

Tehzeeb Haider (two for 16) and Muhammad Gondal (two for 22) went for under five an over, but the rest of Punjab’s bowling was a good deal more expensive.

Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas gave their side’s reply a flowing start, and at 127 for three Punjab were favourably placed, needing 34 off the last five overs with seven wickets in hand.

But then Sebastiaan Braat trapped Burhan Niaz in front, and as wickets fell the asking rate began to climb; Braat added Gandal and Tasir Usman to his tally with successive deliveries, finishing with four for 46, and when Dutt started the final over 11 were still required.

Despite the assistance of four byes Fawad Shinwari and Gondal could only manage three singles, and Hermes were home by three runs.

To make matters worse for Punjab VRA had dismissed Sparta 1888 for 62 in the Amsterdamse Bos, their six-wicket victory in 13.4 overs further improving the Amsterdammers’ NRR, and with HCC and Voorburg recording comfortable victories to leapfrog their rivals, Punjab were squeezed into fifth place.

The NRR margin between third and fifth was just 0.147 in the end, but it was enough to see Punjab eliminated.

Relegated from the 50-over Topklasse, Sparta had started their T20 campaign promisingly enough, but their recent results had been disappointing, and now they collapsed to 22 for five inside the powerplay.

Then young seamer Shayan Moodley claimed three wickets in his opening over, a triple-wicket maiden, and the innings ended on 62.

Juandre Scheepers and Ahsan Malik picked up two wickets apiece for Sparta when VRA replied, but the outcome was foregone, and Jack Cassidy and Imaan Zaidi knocked off the remaining runs quickly enough to see their side into third place on the table, just ahead of Hermes.

HCC finished the round robin phase in style, posting 166 for seven against Excelsior ‘20 at De Diepput and then bowling their opponents out for 75.

Both sides were without key overseas players, Josh Brown (HCC) and Raynard van Tonder (Excelsior) having departed, but with Mark Wolfe, promoted to four, making a 31-ball 36 and Tonny Staal hitting a punishing 39 from 25 deliveries with three fours and two sixes, Sam Rahaley’s four for 31 wasn’t enough to keep the home side’s scoring rate down.

Rahaley then did his best to keep Excelsior in the game with 37 from 33 deliveries, but Daniel Crowley took four for 16 and Clayton Floyd three for 17, and with Nihal Reddy the only other batter to register double figures the Schiedammers ended their season on a disappointing note.

Voorburg were similarly dominant against HBS Craeyenhout at Westvliet, making 168 for five, although the Crows put up a somewhat better display with the bat, reaching 131 before they were all out.

Cedric de Lange and Waseem Mohsen gave the home side a solid start with an opening stand of 75, De Lange going on to 59 from 40 deliveries, and then Noah Croes managed the closing overs with a 24-ball 35 not out.

Mees van Vliet picked up three quick wickets when HBS replied, and at 28 for five it seemed that the Crows might be another side to be bowled out very cheaply.

They were partially rescued by their lower order, however, with Wes Barresi, coming in at nine, top-scoring with 35 from 19 deliveries and Kyle Klein and Joris van Oosterom contributing twenties; Van Vliet finished with three for 21.

At Sportpark Eindenhout, Rood en Wit finished their tough campaign in the Topklasse T20 on a comparative high, not only beating VOC by 45 runs but leapfrogging HBS to avoid the wooden spoon.

Alexander de Graaff’s 32 and 31 from Jordan Woolf enabled to Haarlemmers to reach a respectable 128 for seven, Roman Harhangi claiming three for 18 for VOC, and then Saber Zakhil (three for 7 from three overs), Manzoor Tarake, Ismatullah Nasery and Ben Thornton ran through the Bloodhounds’ batting, bowling them out for 81.

VOC, again finishing eighth on the table, will now face a promotion/relegation play-off against the Hoofdklasse winners, where Kampong go into the semi-finals with an unbeaten record.

Sunday’s semi-finals in the Topklasse will pit HCC against Hermes-DVS at De Diepput, while Voorburg will take on VRA at Westvliet.

Rod Lyall 01/09/25

What a difference an hour makes, especially when the Dutch weather is part of the story: the three matches which started at two o’clock on Sunday all followed a similar course and were played to a finish, whereas those which began later were disrupted by rain, one of them ending in abandonment.

All of this, of course, had its effect on the table, although some clubs will have to wait until next week to discover whether their prospects were improved or harmed by the intervention of Pluvius.

HCC, in particular, had worked their way into a winning position at Craeyenhout, batting on through splatters of rain to reach 177 for six off their 20 overs.

HBS had reduced them to 55 for four at one stage, of which Boris Gorlee had made an 18-ball 30 before Julian de Mey removed him, adding the scalp of Clayton Floyd in his next over, but then Mark Wolfe (35 from 25) and Tonny Staal added 77 for the fifth wicket.

After Wes Barresi had Wolfe smartly stumped by Martijn Scholte Hidde Overdijk joined Staal for a final flourish, Staal finishing with an unbeaten 44 and Overdijk smacking 35 from just 15 deliveries before becoming De Mey’s third victim.

Before HBS could begin their reply the rain became heavier and the covers came on, and they stayed on until the match was abandoned; the point HCC picked up from the No result should be enough to see them into the semi-finals, but defeat by Excelsior next week and a combination of the ‘wrong’ results elsewhere could still see them miss out.

The other match disrupted by the weather was at Westvliet, but in this case Voorburg gained full advantage from the position they had established by reducing Rood en Wit to 52 for six inside 13 overs.

After a long delay Voorburg were set a target of 25 in five overs, and Carl Mumba and Henry Melville needed only nine deliveries to knock off the runs and take the points.

The most significant match of the day was in the Amsterdamse Bos, where Punjab-Ghausia restricted VRA to 120 for nine, 58 of those runs coming from the bat of Jack Cassidy.

Darsh Abhinay had the next highest score with 19, but with Saqib Zulfiqar claiming three for 20 the home side’s innings never really fired, and Punjab were able to produce a measured response, winning by seven wickets with 14 deliveries to spare.

Shoaib Minhas made 35 before he was run out, Sharad Hake having previously given VRA some hope by removing Musa Ahmad and Rushdi Jappie with successive deliveries, but Saqib and Burhan Niaz were equal to the challenge, the former ending on 57 not out and Niaz on 21.

The win took Pinjab back to the top of the table, but VRA dropped to fifth, behind Hermes-DVS on net run rate despite the latter’s surprise loss to VOC at the Hazelaarweg.

Olivier Elenbaas’s unbeaten 40 was the high point of the Schiedammers’ disappointing 125 for six, and VOC then produced one of their more convincing batting efforts of the season.

Hikmatullah Jabarkhail did his best to keep Hermes in the game, dismissing Tim de Kok for 25 and Ramdas Upadhyaya for31, and when the Bloodhounds subsided from 96 for two to 115 for five it was the visitors who might have scented blood.

But Arnav Jain and Jelte Schoonheim held firm, and saw their side to a five-wicket victory with three overs to spare.

Events at Thurlede followed a strikingly similar course, with Excelsior ‘20 dismissing Sparta 1888 for 123 and going on to win by six wickets in 17.4 overs.

Excelsior skipper Roel Verhagen claimed three for 17, but it was his predecessor as captain, former international Tom Heggelman, who had picked up two wickets on his return to the colours against Rood en Wit last week, who did the crucial damage, removing Sparta’s overseas trio of Juandre Scheepers (36), Karl Klesse (24) and Lukas Boorer (11).

He finished with three for 19, and with Nihal Reddy claiming two for 23 Excelsior’s attack exhibited more edge than ithas for much of the season.

Then Raynard van Tonder hammered a 33-ball 69 which included seven fours and five sixes, and although Umar Baker took three for 11, including Van Tonder’s wicket and that of the almost equally dangerous Sam Rahaley, Stan van Troost and Misra Mohool saw Excelsior home.

With VOC scheduled to play Rood en Wit next week, Excelsior are not yet certain to avoid a rfelegation play-off against the Hoofdklasse T20 champions, and will need to beat HCC at De Diepput to be sure of staying in at least seventh place.

At the other end of the table, VRA will squeeze into the semi-finals if they beat Sparta and Hermes-DVS lose to Punjab, while victories for VRA, Voorburg – who take on HBS at Westvliet – and Hermes would see HCC miss out were they to be beaten by Excelsior.

It promises to be an enthralling final round of the round robin, and with the match at De Diepput, somewhat bizarrely, scheduled to start an hour after the other four, HCC and Excelsior will know exactly what they have to do to protect their respective positions.

And then, of course, there’s the Dutch weather . . . . .

Rod Lyall 31/08/25

So, with two rounds to play, four teams are level on points at the top of the T20 table, with two others one point and two points behind them, and the race to the semi-finals of this season’s Topklasse T20 Cup could scarcely be more tense.

No doubt somwhat to their own surprise, Hermes-DVS, the only team not to have played on Saturday, remain at the top on net run rate, with Punjab-Ghausia having fluffed their chance to overtake them.

After seeing off a spirited challenge from Excelsior ‘20 in the early game, Punjab might well have thought they were headed for a double win when they had reduced HCC to 48 for five in the ninth over of their innings.

But Mark Wolfe and Daniel Crowley, coming together at 71 for seven, added 53 precious runs in an unbroken stand, Wolfe finishing on 32 and Crowley on 31, and the innings closed on 124.

That still seemed unlikely to be enough against Punjab’s powerful batting line-up, but Clayton Floyd (two for 12 from his four overs) and Oliver White (three for 16, also from four) combined wicket-taking with exemplary economy, and when the last Punjab wicket fell three deliveries from the scheduled end, the Rotterdammers were still 19 runs short of their target.

There had been no such collapse earlier in the day, when Punjab chased down Excelsior’s imposing 179 for five to win by seven wickets with eight balls to spare.

Not yet free of the relegation zone, Excelsior had posted their best total of the campaign so far, Raynard van Tonder (46 from 23 deliveries), Sam Rahaley (45 from 32) and Tim Etman (50 from 35) all contributing significantly.

But after Karson Edward had removed both openers, Musa Ahmad having made a 38-ball 48, South African Rushdie Jappie, who has made more than 850 runs this season for Punjab’s second team, guided the Rotterdammers home, his unbeaten 61 coming from 38 deliveries with four fours and three sixes.

Burhan Niaz gave him great support with 31 not out from 18, the pair adding 78 runs from just 38 deliveries.

Without four of their first team, all on international duty in Bangladesh, VRA Amsterdam could derive some comfort from the fact that their opponents on Saturday were the two sides at the foot of the table, and were no doubt delighted to come away with four points.

Playing on their second ground in the Amsterdamse Bos, VRA began their day by dismissing HBS Craeyenhout for 90, Darsh Abhinay claiming three for 14; it was, however, Sharad Hake and Leon Turmaine who possibly struck the most significant blows, removing Wes Barresi and Tayo Walbrugh for 14 and 10 respectively.

The home side then needed only 9.4 overs to knock off the runs, Johan Smal (29 not out) and Viraj Thakur (30 not out) putting on 62 from 43 deliveries to make sure of an eight-wicket victory.

Rood en Wit, by contrasted, fully extended their hosts, setting them a testing 165 target, thanks in large measure to a fourth-wicket stand of 80 between skipper Jordan Woolf (66 from 44) and Saber Zakhil (40 from 34).

This enabled them to recover from 13 for three to 164 for seven, and although VRA started well with an opening stand of 90 between Shirase Rasool (62 from 45) and Jack Cassidy (35 from 26), it took them to within one ball of their allotted quota before Ash Oppu hit the winning boundary.

Woolf and Zakhil were again the stars for the Haarlemmers, claiming three for 39 and two for 23.

Voorburg, with the absence of Noah Croes in Bangladesh adding to their selection difficulties, could thank stand-in opener Waseem Mohsen for their 47-run victory over Sparta 1888 at the Bermweg, a result which kept them in touch with the leading quartet.

Mohsen, who has hit three big centuries in the Eerste Klasse this season, including a 130-ball 219 against Concordia Delft, had contributed a promising cameo against HCC last week, but now he batted almost throughout the innings, hitting nine fours and three sixes in a 65-ball knock of 95 before he was run out in the final over, attempting to retain the strike.

He was given little support until the advent of Udit Nashier, although Tom de Leede might be thought to have been a trifle unlucky to have been caught in the deep off a high full toss from Umar Baker which would certainly have been sent upstairs in a more elevated level of the game.

Coming in at 75 for four, however, Nashier helped Mohsen almost double the score before he was out for 29, and Voorburg closed on 163 for six.

Carl Mumba removed both Sparta’s openers, and then Nashier cut through the middle order, including the dangerous Lukan Boorer when he had made 30, and with Nashier finishing with four for 18 the home side was all out for 106.

That defeat might have spelled the end of Sparta’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals, but their second opponents of the day were struggling VOC Rotterdam, and with Juandre Scheepers (61 from 38) and Shaquille Martina (55 from 48) putting on 99 for the first wicket Manminder Singh’s side reached 161 for seven.

VOC, though, who had managed a total of 113 in their last two chases, found Sparta’s attack much more to their liking, despite the return of former international Mudassar Bukhari for his first outing of the season, and with Scott Janett and Tim de Kok giving them a decent start with twenties, Jason van der Meulen contributing a 17-ball 39 and Aaditt Jain making 31, they reached 149 for six with eight balls remaining.

Then Ahsan Malik returned to remove Jain, and VOC needed 13 from the last seven deliveries as Roman Harhangi joined Jelte Schoonheim.

They managed six off the first four balls of Scheepers’ final over, making the equation seven from two, but when Harhangi was run out trying to keep Schoonheim on strike, six were needed off the last delivery.

Arthur Koppejan could only contrive a single, and with Schoonheim stranded on 19 not out Sparta won by just four runs.

With a full round of matches on Sunday, the most significant is VRA’s home encounter with Punjab-Ghausia, while Hermes-DVS will take on VOC at the Hazelaarweg and HCC will face HBS at Craeyenhout.

Voorburg will overtake either VRA or Punjab is they are able to beat Rood en Wit at Westvliet, while Sparta need to defeat Excelsior at Thurlede; their opponents, though, will know that another loss could see them in danger of their second relegation of the season.

Kampong, meanwhile, continued their unbeaten run in the Hoofdklasse competition, seeing off their nearest challengers, Bloemendaal.

Rod Lyall 25/08/25

After a busy weekend the T20 Cup table has a much more familiar look, with Hermes-DVS, HCC and VRA staking strong claims to semi-final spots and Excelsior ’20 joining VOC, HBS and Rood en Wit in a tightening battle to avoid relegation.

Hermes began their weekend with a routine win at Sportpark Bermweg over Sparta 1888, who after a promising start to their campaign are also drifting towards the lower reaches of the table, with Asad Zulfiqar’s 35, Olivier Elenbaas’s 32 and twenties from Daniel Doyle, Ralph Elenbaas and Aryan Dutt propelling them to 186 for seven.

Sparta had no answer to this, only a dogged 45 from opener Shaquille Martina, who batted throughout the innings before he was the last man out, enabling them to reach 109 as Sebastiaan Braat picked up four for 19.

Hermes then travelled back from Capelle a/d IJssel to Sportpark Harga, where they were comprehensively beaten by VRA Amsterdam.

With Shariz Ahmad claiming four for 16 they could only muster 123 before they were all out, 52 of those runs coming from Olivier Elenbaas, and VRA required only 16 and a half overs to complete a nine-wicket victory, Vikram Singh making a 45-ball 65 before he seemed somewhat unfortunate to be given leg-before to Sahil Kothari.

He and Teja Nidamanuru had put on 106 for the first wicket, and Nidamanuru then finished the job, ending unbeaten on 49.

Sunday saw Hermes again in action, this time at Thurlede, where they proved too strong for Schiedam neighbours Excelsior ‘20.

Braat was again amongst the wickets with four for 15 as Excelsior battled their way to 109 for nine, Sam Rahaley top-scoring with 34, and this time it was Ash Ostling who led them to an eight-wicket victory, making a 37-ball 44 not out and sharing an opening stand of 55 with Doyle (29).

Double victories in Sunday took HCC into second spot on the table, with a narrow NRR advantage over Punjab-Ghausia, who enjoyed a weekend off.

Despite losing Josh Brown and Boris Gorlee to the Jain brothers inside the first four overs, the Lions posted the weekend’s highest total with 190 for seven against VOC Rotterdam at De Diepput, thanks to a 43-ball 64 from Oliver White and 56 from 33 deliveries from Clayton Floyd.

Brown then demolished VOC almost single-handed, returning the astonishing figures of 4 – 1 – 7 – 6, including a hat-trick, as the Bloodhounds again collapsed in dramatic fashion, only Ramdas Upadhyaya reaching double figures as they were all out for 48; White, who had started the rout, finished with three for 11.

HCC then made it two out of two with a five-wicket win against Voorburg, who are still suffering from the loss of Michael Levitt and Ryan Klein after last week’s unfortunate collision.

Henry Melville’s 28-ball 37 was the highlight of Voorburg’s 142 for nine, Jan-Wieger Overdijk the pick of the bowlers with two for 16, but with White contributing 44 and Gorlee an unbeaten 47 HCC reached their target with five deliveries to spare.

It was a triumphant weekend for VRA’s batters, who lost only four wickets as they garnered as many points from their two games and moved into a menacing fifth place on the table.

Having beaten Hermes on Saturday, the Amsterdammers completed their weekend in Schiedam with a seven-wicket victory over Excelsior on Sunday.

Opener Raynard van Tonder scored almost half Excelsior’s total of 116 for eight, making a 45-ball 57 before he was fourth out at 102, and VRA reached that target with almost five overs to spare, Nidamanuru leading the way with 33 from 22 deliveries and Shariz Ahmad and Viraj Thakur completing the task.

The most miserable weekend was suffered by HBS Craeyenhout, who lost at home to VOC on Saturday and then lost again, this time to Rood en Wit at Sportpark Eindenhout on Sunday.

It took 32 from Navjit Singh and 32 not out from Benno Boddendijk, who shared an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 49 with Julian de Mey, to enable the Crows to reach 150 for seven, and when the visitors were on 18 for two it looked as if that might be enough.

But skipper Tim de Kok weighed in with 41, and then Jason van der Meulen hammered a 46-ball 88 not out, including seven fours and six sixes, to see VOC to a six-wicket victory with just one ball to spare.

Rood en Wit had so far gone winless, but they were given a great start on Sunday by an opening stand of 81 between Alexander de Graaff (48) and Ben Thornton (34), and although Boddendijk bowled his side back into the game with three for 10 from his four overs, 37 from skipper Jordan Woolf enabled the Haarlemmers to reach 148 for seven, their best total of the campaign.

Paul van Meekeren had Reece Mason caught behind off the first ball of the HBS reply, and when Ismatullah Nasery added Tayo Walbrugh to his impressive list of scalps the Crows were in evident trouble.

They suffered a further blow when Azzam Khan was forced to retire, and although Navjit Singh (56 from 45 with five sixes) and Martijn Scholte were able to achieve a partial recovery, Rood en Wit kept the upper hand, Arnav Mishra taking two for 15 from his four overs and Nasery finishing with three for 17 as HBS closed on 131 for eight.

The Crows have yet to face VRA, HCC and Voorburg, and there will be some concern at Craeyenhout with two and possibly three sides heading for the Hoofdklasse T20 competition next season; Kampong Utrecht are continuing to storm through this year’s Hoofdklasse T20 Cup, and would make formidable opponents for whoever finishes eighth in the Topklasse version.

Rod Lyall 18/08/25

The final game of Sunday’s T20 Cup round pitted leaders Voorburg against Punjab-Ghausia, their nearest challengers, Punjab moving to the top of the table by virtue of a four-wicket victory over a depleted Voorburg.

Voorburg’s earlier match against VOC Rotterdam had come to an abrupt and unfortunate end when, six overs into the Rotterdammers’ reply, there was a collision between Michael Levitt and Ryan Klein as they went for a catch, and play was suspended as both received medical attention.

VOC were on 39 for three at the time, 16 behind the DLS par score, and with Levitt heading to hospital for a concussion check, Voorburg took the points.

Levitt and Klein had been instrumental in Voorburg’s total of 171 for four, the international opener’s 52-ball 63 and first-wicket stand of 89 with Cedric de Lange (42 from 30) getting the innings off to a rollicking start, and Klein topping things off with an unbeaten 31 from 16 deliveries.

Siebe van Wingerden claimed the first three wickets and finished with three for 28, but then Mees van Vliet and Carl Mumba took the top off VOC’s increasingly fragile batting, before the match came to its premature end.

Rain delayed the start of VOC’s second match, against Punjab-Ghausia, reducing it to 16 overs a side, but when it got under way spinners Khurram Shahzad and Musa Ahmad quickly did some reducing of their own as VOC slumped to 17 for five; Shahzad claimed two for 10 in four overs and Musa three for 14 in three.

Tim de Kok watched the carnage from the other end, making 23 before becoming one of three victims for Shoaib Minhas, at a cost of 20 runs, and a spirited lower-order knock of 23 from Ramdas Upadhyaya enabled the Bloodhounds to reach 65 all out.

Punjab were untroubled in overhauling this target, Minhas (25 not out) and Jonathan Vandiar (38 not out) largely content to pick up ones and twos as they cruised to a ten-wicket victory with almost four overs to spare.

So it was a rejigged Voorburg side which took on Punjab in the final game of the day, and the batting struggled against the visitors’ spinners, Muhammad Gondal taking five for 12 and Musa Ahmad three for 35 as they were dismissed for 102.

It would have been worse but for 22 from Patient Charumbira, batting at nine, and Voorburg had just a hint of a chance when Van Vliet and Mumba had Punjab 71 for five in reply.

But Minhas was still there, and his 37 took his side to within four runs of victory before Van Vliet returned to dismiss him, finishing with three for 24, and Punjab won with seven deliveries to spare.

Another fine effort with the ball and a punishing innings from Daniel Doyle kept Hermes-DVS in touch with the leaders, as they never let HBS off the hook at Craeyenhout, restricting them to 121 for nine and then completing the win in just 11.1 overs.

Skipper Sebastiaan Braat led from the front, removing Wes Barresi, Tayo Walbrugh and Kyle Klein inside the powerplay, and although the tail wagged somewhat, enabling the Crows to recover from 75 for eight, their total seemed below par at Craeyenhout.

So it proved, Doyle smashing a 42-ball 98 not out which included 13 fours and six sixes, Ash Ostling content to play a watching role at the other end with an unbeaten 22.

At De Diepput VRA Amsterdam posted their first win of the campaign, beating HCC by 72 runs.

Vikram Singh again gave the Amsterdammers a lively start with a 20-ball 39, including three fours and three sixes, and after Johan Smal and Jack Cassidy chipped in with twenties Viraj Thakur pushed the total on to 170 for eight with a 33-ball 45.

Josh Brown was again the most successful of HCC’s bowlers, taking four for 39 to boost his haul for the weekend to eight.

Peter Ruffell and Ben Fletcher removed Oliver White and Boris Gorlee within the first eight deliveries of HCC’s reply, a double blow from which they never recovered, and although Brown completed a fine allround effort with 57 from 32 balls, no-one else got into double figures as, with the weather closing in, the side slumped to 69 for six.

Vikram Singh ran through the middle and lower order, taking three wickets in his first two overs, including that of Brown, and then adding another after switching ends to finish with four for 19, while Tharun Moorthy needed only three deliveries to take the last two as the innings ended on 98 all out..

Another batting collapse by Rood en Wit paved the way for Sparta 1888’s eight-wicket victory at Sportpark Eindenhout, Ahsan Malik taking three for 13 in his four overs as the home side were quickly reduced to 24 for five.

That became 45 for nine, but skipper Jordan Woolf showed some resistance with an unbeaten 33 which saw his side to 76.

Kyle Klesse again led the way for Sparta with a 33-ball 42 not out, and they needed only 12.1 overs to knock off the runs and maintain their challenge for a spot in the semi-finals.

It looked as if the Haarlemmers might be in for another drubbing as Raynard van Tonder (53 from 36 deliveries) and Roel Verhagen (32 from 29) rattled up an opening stand of 89 after Woolf asked Excelsior ‘20 to bat, but then Manzoor Tarake, with support from Arnav Mishra, cut through the middle order, seven wickets falling for the addition of 28 runs.

Tarake finished with a remarkable five for 13 from his four overs, but Gijs Kroesen, in company with former skipper Tom Heggelman, led a revival of his side’s fortunes in the closing overs, making an unbeaten 24 as the innings closed on 136 for seven.

The pace of Jason Ralston, who finished with three for 7 off his four overs, was too much for Alexander de Graaff and Arnav Mishra, who fell off the first two deliveries of Rood en Wit’s reply, but solid innings from Saber Zakhil (27) and Basir Tarake (41 from 29) enabled the home side to reach 123 for nine, their highest total of the competition so far.

The 13-run win lifted Excelsior into fifth place on the table, and it’s beginning to look as if next year’s Topklasse T20 might have a rather different composition from its 50-over sibling.

Rod Lyall 17/08/25

Cup-holders Voorburg moved to the top of the table by virtue of two victories on a Saturday which saw the surprises of the opening day largely wiped from the slate.

VRA Amsterdam seized the initiative in their match against Voorburg at the neutral Loopuyt Oval as Peter Ruffell claimed three quick wickets, but Henry Melville’s 43-ball 58 saw them to 145 for six before his dismissal cued another flurry of wickets and they were all out for 151.

Ruffell finished with five for 17, while Shariz Ahmad chimed in with four for 13.

Vikram Singh gave signs of a welcome return to form, driving sweetly on his way to 34 from 24 deliveries, but despite Jack Cassidy’s 29-ball 35 VRA were unable to match the required rate, and the innings closed on 119 for eight.

A shortage of umpires had caused the opening matches in the two triple-headers scheduled for Saturday to be postponed until next week, so hosts Hermes-DVS missed out on the opener against VRA, but were soon on the back foot in the day’s final game at the Loopuyt, against Voorburg.

Mees van Vliet struck early, removing both Daniel Doyle-Calle and Ash Ostling, and it was the Elenbaas brothers who were largely responsible for the home side reaching 117, opener Ralph making 23 and elder brother Olivier 38.

Sebastiaan Braat struck back when Voorburg replied, bowling the dangerous Michael Levitt with the fourth ball of the innings, but Noah Croes saw his side to a six-wicket victory with an unbeaten, 40-ball 61, sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 56 with Ryan Klein (34 from 21), and Voorburg won with almost five overs to spare.

HCC’s Josh Brown pricked Sparta 1888’s balloon at Sportpark Bermweg as last week’s surprise package found the Lions’ total of 154 beyond them.

Clayton Floyd had been instrumental in their reaching that total with a 25-ball 48, helped by twenties from Brown and Boris Gorlee, Khalid Ahmadi the most successful of Sparta’s bowlers with three for 26.

Coming on in the fifth over after Kyle Klesse and Ahsan Malik had made a promising start to Sparta’s reply, Brown began with a maiden before claiming three wickets in his second over, reducing the home side to 29 for four, and then added the vital scalp of Klesse in his next.

There was no way back for Sparta from that position, and although Umar Baker made 30 against the change bowlers, the innings ended on 105.

Punjab-Ghausia proved much too strong for Rood en Wit at the Zomercomplex, dismissing the Haarlemmers for 94 and then knocking off the runs in under 13 overs for the loss of four wickets.

Alexander de Graaff gave his side a decent start with a 26-ball 34, but thereafter Punjab’s spinners took over, Saqib Zulfiqar returning the remarkable figures of four for 2 in three overs and Shoaib Minhas taking three for 15.

Izmatullah Nasery again gave Rood en Wit hope by removing Jonathan Vandiar and Musa Ahmad, but Saqib (33 not out) and Burhan Niaz (21 not out) combined in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 30 to make sure of the points.

In the day’s other curtailed triple-header, at the Hazelaarweg, VOC’s opening encounter with HBS Craeyenhout was rescheduled, but the Crows proceeded to set the day’s highest total with 176 for eight against Excelsior ‘20.

They were given a great start by Wesley Barresi’s 18-ball 34, and despite losing Lucas del Bianco, who was forced to retire after collapsing on the pitch in evident pain, they went on to their substantial score thanks to 35 from Kyle Klein.

Raynard van Tonder (39) and Roel Verhagen (42) put on 70 for the first wicket when Excelsior replied, but once they had gone HBS were able to peg the scoring back, Luuk Kroesen’s 27 the best effort from the middle order as the innings closed on 156 for six.

Excelsior struck back, however, in the day’s final game, dismissing VOC for just 59 and needing only 6.1 overs to complete a crushing ten-wicket victory.

Jason van der Meulen, the only survivor of VOC’s four overseas players from the 50-over competition, was the only one to reach double figures, making 29 before becoming one of four victims of Verhagen’s gentle off-spin, at a cost of 13 runs.

Van Tonder (42 not out from 26 deliveries) and Verhagen (18 from 11) then completed the win, greatly improving their side’s net run rate in the process.

Sunday will see a further seven matches, several sides passing the halfway mark in this highly-compressed round robin by the time the third round is completed.