Category: Review

Rod Lyall 30/06/24

The last unbeaten record in this season’s Topklasse was expunged on Saturday, when title-holders Voorburg took full advantage of the batting paradise which sometimes appears in the Amsterdamse Bos, chasing down VRA’s 306 for seven and winning by three wickets with 20 deliveries to spare.

The home side owed their imposing total to half-centuries from internationals Vikram Singh (63) and Teja Nidamanuru (51), but above all to a remarkable seventh-wicket stand of 106 between Udit Nashier and Luke Scully, 77 of them coming from the final five overs.

Scully was eventually run out for a 61-ball 64, but Nashier remained on a career-best 59 not out.

Gavin Kaplan was the pick of the bowlers with two for 32 from his ten overs, while Michael Molenaar was again effective, taking two for 40 from seven.

Voorburg’s reply was anchored by Michael Levitt’s 72-ball 90, but it was Kaplan who saw his side home, adding with 136 for the third wicket with Noah Croes before the latter was bowled for 60 by seamer Sharad Hake, one of two wickets for the debutant.

Kaplan finished on 106 not out, his second century of the season, and he has now made two hundreds and two half-centuries in five innings, for an aggregate of 370 at an average of 92.50.

The defeat meant that VRA were displaced at the top of the table by Punjab-Ghausia, who were untroubled in beating ACC at the Zomercomplex.

The Amsterdammers were all at sea against Punjab’s experienced attack, and collapsed to 72 all out in 27.3 overs, Guy Sheena top-scoring with a run-a-ball 26 amidst chaos at the other end.

Saqib Zulfiqar took four for 10 with his leg-breaks, and there were two wickets apiece for Suleiman Tariq and Ahmad Shafiq.

With an outstanding opportunity to boost his side’s net run rate Musa Ahmad proceeded to take the ACC bowling by the scruff of the neck, hitting three fours and as many sixes in his 21-ball 34, and although Izhaan Sayed did his best with three for 30, Saqib finished the job with an unbeaten 22 as Punjab won by seven wickets in just 10.4 overs.

Excelsior ’20 further enhanced their reputation for defending low totals when, having made a modest 141 all out they dismissed Sparta 1888 for 109, a victory which catapulted them into third place on the table, at least for 24 hours.

Struggling at 29 for four, Excelsior were partially rescued by their lower-middle order, particularly Niels Etman, whose 35 was instrumental in their reaching a halfway-respectable score, despite Martijn Snoep’s three for 29 and Khalid Ahmadi’s demolition of the tail, which yielded him figures of four for 25.

But Sparta were quickly in trouble themselves, Jason Ralston again bowling fast and attacking the stumps, backed up this time by Jens Blankestijn, and within seven overs they had reduced their visitors to 15 for four.

Will Clark and Cameron Fraser redeemed the situation with a stand of 56 for the fifth wicket, but then Lorenzo Ingram took over, claiming a career-best six for 17, twice taking wickets with successive deliveries and spinning Sparta from 71 for four to 92 for nine.

Manminder Singh showed some fight towards the end with a hard-hitting 34 not out, but he couldn’t prevent Excelsior winning by 32 runs.

Down the road at the Loopuyt Oval, Hermes-DVS put up a gallant fight against HCC, but eventually lost by 34 runs.

The Lions set them a fairly demanding target, posting 244 for eight thanks to 78 from opener Conor McInerney, 58 from Teun Kloppenburg, and a brisk 42 from Tim Pringle; Sebastiaan Braat was the most successful of the Hermes bowlers with three for 65.

McInerney’s knock was matched by 76 from Hermes opener Ashley Ostling, but he needed 138 balls against a persistent and varied HCC attack, and by the time he was fifth out with the total on 163 another 82 runs were required from just eight overs.

Braat and Ralph Elenbaas did their best to meet the challenge, but with Pringle and Andrew Leonard bowling well in tandem the demand was ultimately too great, and with four wickets falling in the space of eight deliveries Hermes were all out for 210, Pringle finishing with four for 40 and Leonard three for 35.

The scheduled match between HBS and VOC at Craeyenhout was postponed until Sunday.

Rod Lyall 16/06/24

Another day of delays, interruptions and abandonments nevertheless ended with two surprise victories, one of them another of the close finishes which have enlivened an otherwise frustrating season.

The match between HCC and HBS Craeyenhout was the first to be called off, and because HCC already have two matches waiting to be replayed – the maximum allowed under the Playing Conditions – the sides had to be content with a point apiece.

A couple of hours later, the condition of the run-ups at Het Loopveld was responsible for the game between ACC and VRA going the same way; clubs have, apparently, yet to learn that covering the approaches to the wicket is just as important as covering the pitch itself.

By the time that decision was made play had already started at the Bermweg, where Punjab-Ghausia had won the toss and elected to put hosts Sparta 1888 in.

Sparta soon found themselves in difficulties at 24 for three, with Shaquille Martina, Riley Mudford and Sam Ferguson all gone, but although Faizan Bashir’s 25 was the top score some dogged resistance from Manminder Singh, Umar Baker and Martijn Snoep in the lower order enabled them to reach 161 for nine; Burhan Niaz was the most successful of Punjab’s bowlers with three for 18 from seven overs.

The visitors quickly discovered that that was a better total than it may have seemed at the innings break, and Snoep and Khalid Ahmadi maintained the pressure effectively as Punjab, losing wickets at intervals, increasingly fell behind the DLS par score.

An interruption for rain after 17 overs, with Punjab on 58 for four, led to the match being cut to 45 overs with a revised target of 157, but when the players were driven from the field for what proved to be the last time Punjab were on 88 for five, 11 runs behind the par score, and Sparta had earned their first points of this season’s 50-over competition.

After long delays a start was finally possible at Westvliet, Voorburg winning the toss and electing to field against Hermes-DVS Schiedam in a match reduced to 23 overs a side.

Michael Molenaar and Philippe Boissevain collected two wickets apiece, but Daniel Doyle was again in great touch, smacking an unbeaten 86 from 53 deliveries with seven fours and three sixes.

With Hermes on 150 for four, however, and Doyle seemingly on the way to another century, the rain returned and no further play possible.

That left the game between VOC and Excelsior ’20 at the Hazelaarweg, where a delayed start meant that there was a reduction to 40 overs a side.

With Jock McKenzie taking four for 15 and Jelte Schoonheim three for 28 Excelsior were dismissed for 156, despite Roel Verhagen’s 53 which had seen them reach 113 for three; the middle and lower order was again unable to capitalise on that solid start, the last six wickets adding just 43 runs.

As at the Bermweg, though, VOC soon found chasing even a modest target tricky in the conditions, especially with Jason Ralston attacking the stumps at pace and bowling Francois Fourie, Taylor Bettelheim and McKenzie in the space of five deliveries to reduce them to 9 for three.

Ryan Schiehout watched the chaos from the other end, contributing a determined 46, but when he tried to hit Niels Etman over the top and was caught by Ralston at long off, the score was 82 for six the home side’s chances seemed to have dissipated.

They were rescued by a stand between brothers Arnav and Aaditt Jain, who added a precious 34 for the eighth wicket, and after Arnav had been caught behind by Verhagen of Etman’s bowling for 29, Aaditt and Roman Harhangi continued to push towards their target, so successfully that when Etman began the final over only eight more runs were needed.

Four leg-byes halved the deficit, but then Harhangi tried to hit over the top and was caught by Lorenzo Ingram; four were now required off four deliveries as last man Asief Hoseinbaks joined Aaditt Jain.

He pushed the next ball to cover and took off, the batters keen to get Jain back on strike, but Ingram gathered the ball and ran towards the stumps, his short-range throw quick enough to beat Hoseinbaks’ desperate lunge.

Ralston finished with four for 22 and Etman with four for 30.

It was the second time this season that VOC had been deprived of victory in the final over, and Excelsior, like Sparta, claimed their first points of the competition. The hunt for a top-six place is now definitely on.

Rod Lyall 09/06/24

Although we are only three rounds into the competition – and less when one remembers the four matches which have so far been postponed until July – there are already strong indications of who are most likely to be contenders for title, and who face a probable battle to avoid relegation.

Saturday’s games, for example, saw Hermes-DVS register an easy victory over ACC at the Loopuyt Oval, suggesting that the Amsterdam side, after defeats by HBS and Hermes, will need to lift themselves considerably if they are to come anywhere the top six by the end of July.

After being put in to bat by Sebastiaan Braat the Amsterdammers were rapidly reduced to 53 for six by Ralph Elenbaas, given a share of the new ball with his brother Olivier, his five for 29 in nine overs one of the most destructive spells of the season so far.

Murid Ekram and Braat himself then finished the job, as ACC were dismissed for 82 in just 26 overs, Guy Sheena and Mahesh Hans top-scoring with 16 apiece.

Although Joseph Reddy picked up two early wickets when Hermes replied, Izhaan Sayed adding another, opener Ashley Ostling’s unbeaten 48 from 50 deliveries saw the Schiedammers home inside 14 overs, ensuring that they received a healthy NRR boost in addition to collecting their first points.

There was a similarly comfortable victory for VOC Rotterdam at the Hazelaarweg, where Sparta 1888 could only manage 122, with Asief Hoseinbaks claiming four for 35 and Jelte Schoonheim two for 12.

Prithvi Balwantsingh and Gagandeep Singh had given them a decent start, Balwantsingh’s promotion to opener working well as he top-scored with 35, but once they had both gone three wickets fell for the addition of just one run, and although Cameron Fraser contributed a dogged 28 no-one else was able to get into double figures.

VOC lost both their openers by the time 14 runs were on the board, but then a stand of 91 between Taylor Bettelheim and Jock McKenzie doused Sparta’s hopes, and although Bettelheim fell finally to Manminder Singh for 56, Tim de Kok supported McKenzie as he knocked off the remaining runs and ended on 47 not out.

HCC, at last making it onto the park, were restricted to 185 for eight by Excelsior ’20 at Thurlede, but this proved to be more than enough as Teun Leijer’s brisk medium pace and Jed Wiggins’s off-spin dismissed the home side for just 125.

Excelsior’s attack worked their way steadily through the Lions’ batting, despite Boris Gorlee’s 31, and it took some spirited resistance from Daniel Crowley (36) and Patient Charumbira (27) to give their bowlers a reasonable total to defend.

Derek Mitchell and Tim Etman began the reply confidently enough, but once Crowley had removed Mitchell and Roel Verhagen, Leijer took over, claiming four quick wickets at a cost of 23 runs to run through the middle order and reduce the hosts to 82 for six.

Wiggins then finished the job with three for 16, a very disappointing outcome for the Schiedammers after they had put up a much more convincing fight against champions Voorburg the week before.

Voorburg themselves suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of HBS at Craeyenhout, but their still-depleted side made a very good fist of chasing their hosts’ imposing 287 for six, the highlight of which was a third-wicket stand of 125 between Tayo Walbrugh (97) and Matt de Villiers (82).

Mees van Vliet ensured that the damage was not even greater, depriving Walbrugh of yet another century and then collecting two more scalps to finish with four for 37.

Nehaan Gigani got Voorburg’s reply off to a rollicking start with a 79-ball 71 which included six fours and three sixes, and then last Saturday’s centurion Gavin Kaplan contributed a valuable 57 before he fell to Benno Boddendijk.

That left the bulk of the task to Noah Croes, and as long as he and Michael Molenaar were together at the crease it seemed that the champions were in with a chance.

48 were needed off the last five and 25 off the final three, but when Croes holed out to Ferdi Vink as he tried to hit De Villiers over the top, departing for a run-a-ball 76, the challenge receded, and Voorburg finished 11 runs short of their target.

De Villiers finished with three for 55 and Boddendijk three for 57.

The weather took a hand in the Amsterdamse Bos, where VRA took on Punjab-Ghausia: a wet outfield meant a late start and a match reduced to 47 overs a side, and thanks to Shirase Rasool’s 74 and a hard-hitting 36 from Clayton Floyd the Amsterdammers were able to set Sikander Zulfiqar’s side a target of 239.

Musa Ahmad was the most successful of Punjab’s bowlers with four for 37, including the wicket of his brother and fellow-Dutch international Shariz.

Although Musa and Mohsin Riaz were both out by the time Punjab had 50, Shoaib Minhas and Jonathan Vandiar took the score to 133 for two in 29 overs before a heavy shower drove the players from the field, 17 ahead of the DLS par score at that stage.

A prolonged delay dictated that when they returned the game had been further cut to 36 overs and the target reduced to 176, leaving Punjab to make 43 runs in seven overs.

VRA skipper Johan Smal relied on his spinners, Floyd and Shariz, to restrict the Rotterdammers’ scoring, and so well did they respond that five wickets fell for 36 runs, Shariz removing Vandiar for 50 and Floyd dismissing Minhas for 63 as the batters tried in vain to hit over the top.

So Punjab, like Voorburg, had suffered their first loss of the season, and it was VRA who, having escaped looming defeat, moved to the top of the table on net run rate.

Rod Lyall 02/06/24

On a dank, cold May Saturday on which one match – that between HCC and VOC Rotterdam — fell victim to the heavy rain which had fallen during the week, the eight remaining teams managed to complete their games.

Defending champions Voorburg, having won off the final ball of their match against VOC last week, squeezed out another victory, this time with two balls to spare, against Excelsior ‘20 at Westvliet.

Put in to bat by Noah Croes in a match reduced to 48 overs before the toss, Excelsior got off to a great start with an opening stand of 132 between Derek Mitchell (70) and Tim Etman (80), but thereafter the innings faltered somewhat, until a late push by the middle order of Stan van Troost, Joost Kroesen and Victor Lubbers got them up to a daunting 254 for six.

Voorburg were soon in a spot of bother, both openers gone with only 29 on the board, but Gavin Kaplan and Croes now proceeded to add 202, a club top-flight record for the third wicket, putting their side into a winning position.

Both men batted with great restraint, happy to pick up ones and twos with some outstanding running between the wickets, and in the damp conditions they only struck ten boundaries between them in the course of their 38-over stand.

Kaplan eventually fell for 104, caught by Tim Etman off his brother Niels’s bowling as he tried to hit him over midwicket, and when Croes was bowled by Jason Ralston at the start of the penultimate over with ten still needed, it seemed for a moment that Excelsior might pull off the win.

But Philippe Boissevain and Michael Molenaar had been left with relatively little to do, and they did it calmly to make sure of the points.

Voorburg are level on points with Punjab-Ghausia Rotterdam, but behind them on NRR at this early stage after the combined side, also last-ball winners on the opening day, had a rather more comfortable victory over promoted side Hermes-DVS Schiedam.

Hermes also made a good start, and were 125 for one in the 24^th over with Ashley Ostling having made 26 and Daniel Doyle a 59-ball 81 which included five fours and five sixes, Olivier Elenbaas going on to post 45.

But once Doyle had gone Belgian international Burhan Niaz ran through the middle order, taking four for 33, and with Suleiman Tariq picking up three for 31 and Sikander Zulfiqar, for once the only member of his family on the field, two for 16, the Schiedammers were all out for 196.

Shoaib Minhas made a brisk 24 and Musa Ahmad a patient 32 when Punjab replied, but it was Mohsin Riaz’s unbeaten 106 which ensured that Punjab eased to a five-wicket win, Riaz hitting back-to-back sixes, the first to reach his century and the second to finish the game.

Niels Woermeijer and Olivier Elenbaas both worked hard throughout, finishing with figures of two for 34 and two for 42, while Abdul Jabarkhail bowled economically, taking one for 24 from his ten overs.

At the Bermweg, VRA Amsterdam opened their Topklasse campaign with an even more comfortable win over Sparta 1888, who were on the back foot from the moment VRA’s opening attack of Elijah Eales and Ben Fletcher had removed both openers before there was a run on the board.

Riley Mudford’s 49 and a rearguard 30 from Faizan Bashir enabled them to reach 151, Eales, Fletcher, Clayton Floyd, Shariz Ahmad and Thomas Iles all picking up a brace of wicket apiece, and when Cameron Fraser, bowling fast and straight, had reduced the Amsterdammers to 37 for three, with Shirase Rasool and Johan Smal clean bowled and Adam Constant trapped in front, it seemed that Sparta might be in with a chance.

Demari Prince, however, promoted to open the innings, stood firm, and with support from Shariz Ahmad, took the total to within 11 runs of the target before he holed out to Shaquille Martina at long off off the bowling of Tom Hoornweg for 79.

That left Floyd to knock off the remaining runs with Shariz, who ended on 36 not out, while Fraser had three for 47 for Sparta as VRA won by six wickets with almost 20 overs to spare.

Izhaan Sayed had a dream start to his Topklasse career for ACC, taking a return catch off the first ball of the game to remove HBS Craeyenhout allrounder Lehaan Botha, and the Crows’ batters had to work hard against a disciplined ACC attack, only Matt de Villiers looking really comfortable with a splendid 82-ball 92.

He dominated a stand of 64 for the third wicket with Reece Mason, but once they had gone Sahil Kothari ran through the middle order, claiming three for 29, and it took an enterprising last-wicket stand between Benno Boddendijk and debutant Amrit Singh to get HBS up to 191.

It seemed clear when Singh and Botha removed first Kothari and then Shreyas Potdar with just seven on the board that ACC would face an uphill battle, and although Rahil Ahmed (32) and Ben van der Merwe (26) added 43 for the third wicket, HBS remained in control.

Guy Sheena contributed 28 and Ammar Zaidi a rearguard 32, but Boddendijk cleaned up at the end, taking three for 29, and the home side were eventually dismissed for 138.

Rod Lyall 27/05/24

For a while on Saturday morning it looked as if the 2024 50-over Topklasse season would begin with a washout, as the cancellation of Excelsior ‘20’s match against ACC at Thurlede was quickly followed by returning Hermes-DVS’s game against VRA Amsterdam at the Loopuyt Oval and the encounter between HCC and Sparta 1888 at the De Diepput.

In the end, however, enthusiasts for the longer format were rewarded with two remarkable finishes, both the games which survived the weather producing the tightest of final-ball results.

At Craeyenhout, where the delayed start was caused as much by the tail-end of the football season as by the rain, Punjab-Ghausia skipper Sikander Zulfiqar won the toss and elected to bat, and by the time the players were forced from the field by a passing band of rain HBS had claimed four wickets for 104 runs.

After Lehaan Botha took a return catch to remove Musa Ahmad, young Elmar Boendermaker chimed in with the scalps of Punjab’s danger-men Shoiab Minhas and Jonathan Vandiar, and then, as the weather closed in, Matthew de Villiers snaffled another return catch to dismiss Mohsin Riaz.

The interruption caused the deduction of seven overs, and after the resumption Asad and Sikander Zulfiqar set about rebuilding the innings.

Sikander made 34, as did Fawad Shinwari, but with Botha taking three more wickets to finish with four for 39, Punjab had to battle their way to 224 for eight, assisted by two sixes from Samir Butt off the final over.

That was reduced to 221 on the DLS adjustment, and HBS were soon in trouble in reply, Sajjad Kamal turning in a fine spell which effected the departure of both Botha and Reece Mason inside three overs.

De Villiers contributed a brisk 34 before falling to Suleiman Tariq, but at the other end Tayo Walbrugh was steadily batting his way back into form, supported first by Lucas del Bianco and then by Martijn Scholte.

The Crows were well in the hunt as Walbrugh eased past fifty, and despite a sustained spell by Sikander only 61 were required from the final ten overs, with six wickets still in hand.

But two further wickets opened up the tail, and it soon became clear that everything depended on Walbrugh as Kamal and Zulfiqar turned the screw.

18 were needed off Sikander’s final over, and although Walbrugh managed to take twelve off the first four deliveries a single from the fifth left HBS short, and despite Walbrugh’s unbeaten 126 from 124 deliveries, Punjab won by four runs.

Meanwhile at the Hazelaarweg a very similar conclusion was taking shape.

The game had been cut to 33 overs a side before the start, and Voorburg, put in to bat by VOC, were able to reach 218 for eight, thanks in large measure to a third-wicket stand of 105 between Gavin Kaplan and skipper Noah Croes.

Croes eventually fell to Jelte Schoonheim for 43, but Kaplan went on to make 84, from 65 deliveries with ten fours and a six, and to see the total past 200 before he was dismissed by Asief Hoseinbaks.

Chasing over six and a half an over, Ryan Schierhout and Francois Fourie gave their side a solid start with an opening stand of 66, but Voorburg’s depleted attack chipped away at their opponents’ top order, and with eleven overs left 102 were still needed.

Jock McKenzie was still there, however, and he and Jason van der Meulen kept their side in the game with a sixth-wicket stand of 81 in just under ten overs, leaving 22 to get off the last two.

Then Michael Molenaar bowled Van der Meulen, but another six from McKenzie left 12 required from the last with Mees van Vliet bowling to McKenzie.

Two came from the first ball, and off the second Tim de Kok was run out, bringing Schoonheim to the crease.

A bye gave McKenzie the strike, but he could only manage a single, and now eight were needed from the final two deliveries.

Schoonheim hit another two, and at this point sensation broke out: Van Vliet bowled a wide, the batters attempted a run which would have reduced the deficit to four, but umpire Ashraf Din ruled that Schoonheim had deviated from his line when running and gave him out Obstructing the field.

So not only did the run not count, but Aaditt Jain was left to face the final delivery.

He contrived to take two, but when attempting another off an overthrow he was run out, and Voorburg had sensationally won by two runs.

Despite the confusion and controversy it had been a sensational finish, and the defending champions, without their national team players, must have been very relieved to take the points home to Westvliet.