Category: Review

Rod Lyall 22/06/25

The battle to avoid relegation heated up several more degrees on Saturday, as the bottom four slugged it out in two crucial matches.

Perhaps the bigger surprise came at Sportpark Bermweg, where Sparta 1888 completed just their second victory of the season, beating HBS Craeyenhout by 4 wickets.

It wasn’t just the fact of the win which should send a shiver down the spines of Sparta’s rivals but its manner: their bowlers recovered well after conceding 89 runs in the first eight overs, Lehan Botha launching an extraordinary onslaught which gave him a 32-ball 76, and the batters then raced to their target in 28.2 overs.

Botha’s half-century came in just 17 deliveries, and his innings included nine fours and five sixes, all but ten of his runs coming in boundaries.

He eventually fell to Juandre Scheepers, who added the scalps of Tayo Walbrugh and Wes Barresi in the space of four more deliveries, and although Elmar Boendermaker contributed a patient 47 and Reese Mason made 40 as he batted with the tail, HBS were dismissed for 203.

Scheepers finished with four for 38, and there were two wickets apiece for Khalid Ahmadi and Umar Baker.

Sam Ferguson gave the reply a flying start with a 24-ball 39, but the key partnership was that for the fourth wicket between Lukas Boorer (87 from 73 deliveries) and Ahmadi (39 from 20), who added 95 in nine overs.

Botha struck back to remove both in the space of four deliveries, but by that point only 16 more were needed and Sparta made sure of the victory.

At Thurlede, meanwhile, Excelsior ‘20 sank further into the relegation mire, as VOC took a significant step away from it with a four-wicket victory.

Batting first, Excelsior recovered somewhat from a perilous 50 for three thanks to Antum Naqvi’s 75, and seemed to on course for a big total at 204 for five with Brett Hampton hitting three sixes in a 38-ball 46 before he was run out in a disastrous misunderstanding with Joost Kroesen.

That galvanised Kroesen, who until that point had mostly been content to give Hampton the strike, and he proceeded from 18 from 25 deliveries to 52 from 47, taking over the aggressive role and enabling his side to reach 264 all out.

Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer then shared a second-wicket stand of 119 before Gijs Kroesen bowled Oberholzer for 45, and then Janett and Monty Singh added a further 60 to drive home VOC’s advantage.

Naqvi eventually had Janett caught by Hampton for 91, but Singh continued as wickets fell at the other end, finishing unbeaten on 64 as his side won with an over to spare.

Leaders Kampong were fairly untroubled in seeing off the challenge of Punjab-Ghausia at the Zomercomplex, half-centuries by Daniel van den Berg (51), Lane Berry (78) and Pierre Jacod (56 not out) seeing them to 237 for nine all out after opener Karel Vieler was forced to retire hurt after being struck on the back of the helmet by Tehzeeb Haider.

Shoaib Minhas was again the most successful of Punjab’s bowlers with three for 22, but he was then part of a dramatic batting collapse as the first four wickets fell for just 34 runs.

The rot was partially stopped by a seventh-wicket partnership of 79 between Mohsin Riaz (52) and Burhan Niaz (35).

Once they were dismissed, however, the end came fairly quickly, and Punjab were all out for 159 in 37 overs, giving Kampong a 78-run victory.

Back at the start of May HCC pulled off a remarkable chase at De Diepput to overtake Voorburg’s 327 and win by five wickets, and the sides again produced a high-scoring game in the return at Westvliet.

An opening stand of 116 between Clayton Floyd (51) and Tonny Staal (42) was the foundation of the Lions’ total of 286 for eight, and after the Voorburg attack began to assert itself, reducing the visitors to 161 for five, the lower order demonstrated the depth of the side’s batting, adding 80 in the last eight overs.

This always seemed likely to be too many for a Voorburg line-up deprived of the services of the in-form Michael Levitt, and although Gavin Kaplan made a run-a-ball 41 and there were smaller contributions from Cedric de Lange, Noah Croes and Ryan Klein, Floyd’s four for 41 and Josh Brown’s three for 42 ensured that the reply closed on 201, giving HCC a comfortable 85-run victory.

That win took the Lions past Hermes-DVS and into second place on the table, a deficit the Schiedammers were unable to reverse on Sunday, when they lost to VRA by 7 runs in the Amsterdamse Bos.

Electing to bat first, VRA reached 250 for nine, Jack Cassidy leading the way with 82, and Johan Smal (31), Shariz Ahmad (46) and Viraj Thakur (32) all chipping in usefully.

The Hermes attack was handicapped by a pulled hamstring for skipper Sebastiaan Braat, who was only able to bowl two deliveries before pulling up and taking himself out of the attack, but it was again Hikmatullah Jabarkhail who did most of the damage with three for 45.

Ash Ostling (56) and Daniel Doyle-Calle (43) gave Hermes their accustomed good start with an opening stand of 87, and at 173 for four with Asad Zulfiqar on 40 they seemed well placed for a successful chase.

There were, however, now only 13 overs left, and although Olivier Elenbaas contributed 32, keeping his side in the hunt, but when he was run out 34 were still needed off the last five overs.

By the time Ben Fletcher started the final over there were ten required with two wickets standing, but the tail could only manage two.

Shariz claimed three for 31 from his ten overs as VRA gave themselves some breathing space in mid-table and Hermes slipped a little further behind the leaders.

Rod Lyall 16/06/25

What had been a fairly predictable day’s Topklasse cricket, with the top four sides proceeding to comfortable victories over the bottom four, ended in disgraceful drama at Maarschalkerweerd on Saturday, where Excelsior> paceman Jens Blankestijn headbutted departing Kampong batter Robert van der Harten, whom he had just dismissed, knocking him to the ground.

There had been words exchanged in the course of the over, which began with Kampong needing ten runs off four overs for victory, with four wickets in hand, Blankestijn bowling back-to-back bouncers, the first of which was not called wide – though it might well have been – while the second was.

Blankestijn then produced a slower yorker which found the base of Van der Harten’s stumps, and further verbal exchanges, and a slight push in passing, culminated in the bowler walking back to Van der Harten, who was still wearing his helmet, and deliberately headbutting him.

Such an act is a clear contravention of the Playing Conditions, arguably fitting the definition of a Level 4 offence, ‘Physical assault of another Player’, which should result in the offender’s removal from the field and the award of five penalty runs.

In this case, however, no such sanctions were imposed, and Blankestijn was allowed to complete his over, Kampong winning with five wides three deliveries into the next.

It was a sad conclusion to a match which had begun with opener Sam Rahaley making a fine 101 out of an Exclesior total of 239 for seven, sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 114 with Stan van Troost (39); Lachlan Bangs was the most successful of Kampong’s bowlers with four for 44.

Lane Berry led the reply with a 104-ball 95, ably supported by stand-in opener Karel Vieler (38) and Lorenzo Ingram (37), and when Berry’s dismissal produced a mini-collapse, two more wickets falling for the addition of 20 runs, acting captain Pierre Jacod saw his side home with 16 deliveries to spare.

Two other matches followed somewhat similar paths.

In what would in normal circumstances have been the natural lead story, Hermes-DVS made short work of chasing a HBS total of 233 all out at Craeyenhout, a stunning 49-ball 94 from Daniel Doyle-Calle, which included 15 fours and four sixes, racing them to an eight-wicket victory inside 33 overs.

Doyle shared an opening stand of 146 with Ash Ostling, who stayed to the end and finished on 86 not out.

The Crows had done well to reach 233 after a devastating opening spell from Olivier Elenbaas had reduced them to 37 for four; skipper Tayo Walbrugh anchored the rest of the innings with 101, his 13th Topklasse century, sharing stands of 66 with Navjit Singh (32) and 94 with Julien de Mey (43).

Elenbaas, who had four for 21 at one stage, finished with four for 32, while Hikmatullah Jabarkhail returned to the top of the wicket-taking list with five for 40, including both Navjit and Walbrugh.

And at De Diepput, Sparta 1888 owed their total of 216 against HCC in large part to Kyle Klesse (57) and Juandre Scheepers (37), who put on 63 together for the fourth wicket.

But Josh Brown, bowling with real aggression throughout, claimed six for 37, running through the lower middle order and the tail, and Tonny Staal (91) and Oliver White (56) set up the Lions’ five-wicket victory with a third-wicket partnership of 109.

The least competitive game of the day was at the Hazelaarweg, where VOC were bowled out for 84 by Voorburg, who completed their nine-wicket win before most other matches had reached the halfway mark.

Much of the damage was done by Gavin Kaplan, who claimed four for 21 in his ten overs, while Patient Charumbira and former international Philippe Boissevain picked up two apiece, the latter taking two for 7 in just 15 deliveries.

With one eye, perhaps, on their net run rate, Voorburg raced to the win in 11.4 overs, Cedric de Lange and Kaplan scoring at better than a run a ball and Carl Mumba finishing unbeaten on 31.

The weekend’s closest encounter was the postponed match between <b>VRA</b> and <b>Punjab-Ghausia</b>, played on Sunday in the Amsterdamse Bos, won by Punjab by four wickets with 11 deliveries to spare.

Patrick Gouge (59) and Sachin Peiris (41) put on 99 for the first wicket after Johan Smal won the toss, but it took them 25 overs to do so, and although Smal himself was eventually able to raise the scoring-rate, his dismissal for a fine 63-ball 80 prevented the kind of final-overs onslaught that would have taken the home side to a really imposing total.

Suleiman Tariq contributed another of his economical spells, conceding just 25 runs from his ten overs, and Punjab’s four-man spin attack was also effective, while Tehzeeb Haider claimed two for 34.

Ashir Abid struck early when Punjab replied, removing the dangerous Fawad Shinwari, but thern he pulled up with a side strain and had to leave the field.

Without ever really taking control, the defending champions were able to keep up with the asking rate of five an over, Shoaib Minhas contributing 55, Mohsin Riaz 38 and Mohammad Gondal 47, and although VRA had a moment of hope when Burhan Niaz  was the sixth out with 42  still needed, Sikander Zulfiqar and Khurram Shahzad were able to knock off the remaining runs.

Rod Lyall 10/06/25

Ninth-placed VOC Rotterdam sprang the surprise of the season so far with a hard-fought three-wicket victory over leaders Kampong Utrecht at Hazelaarweg on Monday.

The win was spearheaded by 17-year-old Aaditt Jain, who grabbed three wickets inside the first nine overs to reduce Kampong to 38 for three.

A partial recovery by Lachlan Bangs and Lorenzo Ingram was halted by the spin of Siebe van Wingerden, who removed both, and it took a fighting 56 from Pierre Jacod to get the leaders up to a moderately respectable 188, Aaditt Jain returning to collect another and finish with four for 40.

VOC soon found themselves of 25 for two when they replied, but Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer combined in a stand of 94 for the third wicket, turning the game back the Bloodhounds’ way.

Oberholzer’s dismissal for 33, followed by that of Scott Janett, who made a fine 85, gave Kampong some hope, and with four wickets falling for 18 runs it seemed that VOC might again implode.

But Aaditt Jain now joined elder brother Arnav at the crease, and in growing tension they knocked off the remaining runs to give their side victory with two deliveries to spare.

Meanwhile, at the Loopuyt Oval, second-placed Hermes-DVS were unable to capitalise on Kampong’s defeat, losing to HCC by three wickets in another tight, low-scoring encounter.

The Lions’ pace attack never allowed the Hermes innings to gain any momentum after Sebastiaan Braat had elected to bat, Hidde Overdijk taking four for 22 and Teun Leijer three for 16 as the home side were dismissed for 151 in 39.2 overs. Hermes opener Daniel Doyle-Calle top-scored with 31.

The Hermes attack, so often the key to their success this season, struck back early in the HCC response, and at 73 for five the chase appeared to be faltering.

But with runs at a premium Shashank Banerjee’s 30 before he was run out by a smart direct hit from Doyle proved instrumental in HCC’s win; only eight more were required when he departed, and Daniel Crowley (30 not out) and Overdijk saw their side home with nine overs left.

HCC’s victory brought them to within one point of Hermes and three of Kampong, and they were joined there by two more Monday winners: Voorburg and Punjab-Ghausia.

In the only game where overs were lost, a delayed start at Westvliet reducing each side to 47 overs, Voorburg imposed themselves on Sparta 1888 almost from the outset, a destructive ten-over spell from veteran medium-pacer Usman Malik yielding figures of four for 16 and reducing Sparta from 46 for one to 88 for six.

After some resistance from Manminder Singh and Umar Baker, Floris de Lange claimed three for 6 in nine deliveries, and Sparta were all out for 133.

Voorburg needed only 25.1 overs to secure an eight-wicket victory, Carl Mumba hitting a 29-ball 30 to get the innings moving and Cedric de Lange making 51, leaving Gavin Kaplan and Tom de Leede to finish the job.

On a day when bowlers were generally in charge, the highest scores came at the Zomercomplex, where Musa Ahmad’s unbeaten 114, including six fours and four sixes, was the spine of Punjab-Ghausia’s total of 259 for seven.

Musa shared a second-wicket stand of 76 with Shoaib Minhas (52), and then batted through to the end, a flurry of boundaries taking him to his third Topklasse centuries despite wickets falling at the other end.

A hard-hitting 18-ball 32 from Reece Mason gave HBS a brisk start, and when Tayo Walbrugh (46) and Lehan Botha (68) put on 106 for the third wicket in just 20 overs the Crows seemed on course for a notable victory.

But then Punjab’s spinners reasserted themselves, Musa removing Botha and Minhas Walbrugh to set in train an HBS collapse which ended with their being all out for 221, Saqib Zulfiqar celebrating his return to fitness with three for 46.

In a crucial battle on the fringes of the relegation zone, VRA Amsterdam got the better of Excelsior ‘20 at Thurlede, although the Schiedammers’ batters showed more fight than they had when the two sides met on the opening day of the season.

Again it was the bowlers who were largely on top, 42 from skipper Johan Smal and 53 from Jack Cassidy the most significant contributions to VRA’s somewhat under-par total of 197 all out.

Jason Ralston claimed three for 24 in nine overs, including the wicket of Cassidy, while Antum Naqvi took three for 30 and Niels Etman two for 36.

The Amsterdammers’ four-man seam attack then cut through the Excelsior top order, and at 54 for five there were echoes of that opening-day game, in which the side had been dismissed for 85.

Captain Roel Verhagen was still there, however, and he shared partnerships with Joost Kroesen, Etman and Ralston which took the total up to 150.

Once he found himself batting with last man Jens Blankestijn with 45 still required, Verhagen concluded that attack was his only option, hitting Sharad Hake for two sixes before the bowler had his revenge, trapping him in front to 80 to finish the innings on 175.

Hake finished with four for 37, while Ashir Abid, who had done much of the early damage, took three for37.

The win edged VRA a little further towards mid-table, but with VOC now level on points with Excelsior, it is only net run rate which prevents the Schiedammers from slipping down into one of the two automatic relegation spots.

Rod Lyall 08/06/25

On a day which began with a real prospect of another washout ground staff, officials and players triumphed over the elements at four of the five Topklasse grounds on Saturday, producing results which both took the leaders further away from the pack and made things a lot tighter at the bottom end of the table.

The chief beneficiaries of the day were Kampong Utrecht, whose thrilling five-wicket victory over third-placed Voorburg at Westvliet kept them clear at the top, still two points ahead of nearest rivals Hermes-DVS.

In a match reduced to 25 overs a side Kampong’s spinners were again in charge, collecting five wickets between them as Voorburg assembled 156 for seven, Cedric de Lange making 40 and stand-in captain Ryan Klein, returning from injury, 34.

The Utrecht side’s replied faltered somewhat at 49 for four, but then Lorenzo Ingram and Alex Roy put on 95 for the fifth wicket, and after Tom de Leede removed Roy for 27 in the penultimate over Ingram finished the job in style, hitting a six to reduce the tension and reach his half-century.

That meant that just two we required from the final over, and after Robert van der Harten levelled the scores with one delivery remaining, Ingram managed the winning run to end on 57 not out.

Chasing the highest total of the day, Sparta 1888’s 175 for eight in a 33-over game at the Loopuyt Oval, Hermes-DVS could thank opener Daniel Doyle-Calle for their seven-wicket win, his unbeaten 115 coming from 86 deliveries and including 13 fours and two sixes as Hermes won with 16 balls to spare.

Sparta’s innings was built around an 82-run stand for the fourth wicket between Kyle Klesse (39) and Juandre Scheepers (53), while for the home side Olivier Elenbaas, bowling for the first time this season, Sebastiaan Braat and Hikmatullah Jabarkhail picked up two wickets apiece.

Doyle then dominated the Hermes reply, with valuable support from Mussayab Jamil (24) and Elenbaas (17 not out), enabling his side to cruise to victory and reinforce Sparta’s position at the foot of the table.

That position was rendered even bleaker by events at the Hazelaarweg, where VOC Rotterdam eased their own situation slightly with a hard-fought 9-run win against VRA Amsterdam.

That outcome had seemed unlikely at the half-way mark, since VOC had failed to make use of their full 27 overs, dismissed for 123 with 11 balls remaining.

42 of those runs had come from Christiaan Oberholzer, with Ashir Abid (three for 20) the most effective of VRA’s bowlers and Topklasse debutant Viraj Thakur pciking up two for 16.

But that fairly modest target proved beyond VRA’s somewhat makeshift batting line-up, depleted by national team commitments, Sachin Peiris, called up to open in place of Vikram Singh, top-scoring with 30 and Ibaad Zaidi making 29.

Brothers Arnav and Aaditt Jain collected five wickets between them, Aaditt taking three for 27, and when Zaidi’s was the eighth wicket to fall, 28 were still needed with three overs remaining.

Aaditt and Jason van der Meulen managed to close things out, and with VRA’s final pair together the innings closed ten runs short of their target.

With VRA losing, Excelsior ‘20’s hopes of escaping the relegation zone were further improved by their own victory over HBS Craeyenhout at Thurlede.

This game was cut to 24 overs a side, and HBS, put in by Roel Verhagen, battled their way to 115 for nine, Verhagen himself equalling a club record with five catches and a stumping.

One of the catches, off Antum Naqvi, was of HBS skipper Tayo Walbrugh, who top-scored with 32, while Joost Kroesen added three more scalps to his tally for the season, at a cost of just 16 runs.

Verhagen then gave his side a solid start with 30, Naqvi made a 39-ball 48, and Brett Hampton completed the task with six overs in hand, facing just one ball after Naqvi’s departure and ending proceedings with a six.

The only match to fall victim to the weather was the mid-table clash between Punjab-Ghausia and HCC at the Zomercomplex, which was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Their point apiece brought the two sides level with Voorburg, although with inferior net run rates, but at the competition’s halfway point the championship race is increasingly looking like a two-way battle between Kampong and Hermes.

Rod Lyall 01/06/25

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rod Lyall25/05/25

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rod Lyall 11/05/25

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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