Rod Lyall 27/05/24
There were two winners at Westvliet on Sunday: Voorburg took the Topklasse T20 Cup, but mostly it was the dreadful weather which emerged victorious on a thoroughly disappointing day.
Voorburg had, in the final analysis, earned their title by finishing top of the table after the round-robin phase, but with only 46.4 overs of the scheduled 120 able to be bowled in the course of the day what should have been a showcase of Dutch cricket became a rain-soaked anticlimax.
Matters were not helped by a tired pitch, already used for two of the international T20 tri-series matches, and in the first semi-final VRA Amsterdam’s quartet of spinners took full advantage of the conditions, bowling 14 overs between them and restricting Voorburg to 127 for seven.
It might, indeed, have been even less had there not been a late flurry from Noah Croes, whose 55 came from 49 deliveries and included just two fours, and Philippe Boissevain, who hit the only six of the innings.
The whole affair bore little resemblance to T20 cricket as we have come to know it, but before we could decide whether Voorburg had achieved a relatively commanding total in the circumstances, more rain ended proceedings just one over into the VRA reply, and the hosts went into the final.
That rain meant that the second semi-final was cut to 13 overs a side, and HCC also struggled with the bat, Conor McInerney’s 26-ball 35 and Jed Wiggins’s unbeaten 21 from 12 deliveries nevertheless enabling them to reach 95 for five.
Any thought that that might have been enough was quickly dispelled by HBS allrounder Lehaan Botha, who seemed to be inhabiting a different universe as he smashed 62 not out from 26 balls, including three fours and six sixes, to take the Crows to a seven-wicket victory in just 8.4 overs.
The game was also notable for the return of HBS icon Tobias Visée, who faced only seven deliveries but contributed 16 runs, his six over long-on perhaps the cleanest and longest blow by any batter at Westvliet over the ten days, Ireland and Scotland’s big hitters not excepted.
But the most torrential rain of the day was now imminent, and only four overs the final, in which Voorburg reached 17 for the loss of Nehaan Gigani’s wicket, were possible before the covers went on for the last time and Voorburg got their hands on the trophy.
A result was possible at Maarschalkerweerd, where Rood en Wit won a rain-affected Hoofdlasse T20 final and made sure of a spot in next year’s Topklasse T20 Cup, while at Het Loopveld in Amstelveen Groen en Wit Amsterdam made 120 for nine but nevertheless saw their rivals, VRA’s second team, promoted to the Hoofdklasse T20 because they had finished higher on the table after the round-robin phase.
TKcricket 