Category: Review 2026 TK

Rod Lyall 31/05/26

The revolving door at the top of the Topklasse table gave another turn on Saturday, as defeat for Voorburg at De Diepput and a comfortable victory for Kampong over HBS at Maarschalkerweerd enabled the defending champions to regain their one-point lead.

Kampong’s seven-wicket win did not come without a moment of doubt, as after dismissing HBS for 177, Kyle Klein reduced them to 19 for two, with Damien van den Berg and Scott Edwards back in the pavilion.

And when Julien de Mey had Max O’Dowd caught for 16 with the total on 60, the Crows might have been forgiven for thinking that they were back in the game.

That was their last success, however, as first cautiously and then with increasing momentum, Pierre Jacod and Lachlan Bangs added 120 in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand which steered Alex Roy’s side to victory with nearly twenty overs to spare.

Bangs was distinctly the more aggressive, his Topklasse-career-best 86 coming from 60 deliveries with six fours and five sixes, while Jacod ended on a more sedate, but no less crucial 52.

It was a fine all-round performance by Bangs, who had earlier claimed four for 28 in his ten overs, including the vital wicket of Lehan Botha for 27.

Kent Goedeke top-scored for HBS with 37, while Klein chipped in with a useful 33 which ended only when he was run out trying to retain the strike with nine wickets down.

Having dismissed Rotterdam for 120 last Monday, HCC’s bowlers were again in charge against the enigmatic Voorburg at De Diepput, and it was again Josh Brown who was the main wicket-taker, completing his second successive five-wicket haul as Voorburg collapsed to 134 all out as they chased their hosts’ 251 for nine.

Tonny Staal (54) and Shirsak Banerjee (37) gave the Lions a great start with an opening stand of 94, and then Boris Gorlee (38) and Brown (27) were the main contributors as Cedric de Lange celebrated his selection for the Dutch squad for Canada with a career-best five for 38 and Additt Jain cleaned up the tail with three for 61.

But Voorburg were soon in trouble when they replied, Brown removing De Lange and Don Glover in quick succession and then adding the scalp of Michael Levitt, while Daniel Crowley had Noah Croes caught behind.

At 43 for four Voorburg were on the ropes, and Bas de Leede and Ryan Klein doubled the total, once Justin Trijzelaar had removed Klein, Clayton Floyd picked up three for 17 and Brown returned to dismiss Michael Rippon and Jaynul Islam with successive deliveries to finish with five for 44 and complete HCC’s 117-run victory.

The win consolidated the Lions’ position in the top four, but they still trail Kampong, Voorburg and Rotterdam who stayed in second position by virtue of a six-wicket win over VRA in the Amsterdamse Bos.

VRA’s total of 234 for nine was built around opener Vikram Singh’s 91, but apart from Johan Smal with 39 he received too little support from the rest of the batting, and it did not help the home side’s cause that both Smal and Singh were run out.

Six of the Rotterdam bowlers took a single wicket apiece, a combined effort which was able to prevent VRA from setting a really substantial target.

Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas gave their side a valuable start with an opening stand of 90 when Rotterdam replied, and after Minhas had departed for 34, victim of another run-out, and was soon followed by Muhammad Gondal, Musa and Mohsin Riaz added 72 for the third wicket.

Shariz Ahmad struck back, removing first Riaz for 48 and then his elder brother Musa for 80, but debutant Abdul Rehman Niazi and Sikander Zulfiqar knocked off the 43 runs still needed to make sure of victory with seven overs remaining.

Hermes-DVS made short work of VOC Rotterdam at the Loopuyt Oval, bowling them out for 105 and needing only 20.5 overs to make sure of a five-wicket win.

Ralph Elenbaas was the architect of the victory, taking four for 33, with Hikmatullah Jabarkhail claiming three for 2 in nine deliveries to clean up the tail; skipper Jason van der Meulen again top-scored for VOC with 31.

Hermes stuttered slightly in reply, with Roman Harhangi picking off the openers with 32 on the board, and Asief Hoseinbaks then taking three quick wickets to leave the Sky Blues on 75 for five.

Mussayab Jamil and Aryan Dutt, however, then steadied the ship, making sure that Hermes reached their target without further loss.

Rod Lyall 10/05/26

There have been many remarkable days in the 136-year history of the Dutch men’s competition, but few have been as dramatic as that on this year’s Ascension Day holiday.

Top billing went to the clash at Westvliet between leaders Rotterdam and hosts Voorburg, and despite – or perhaps because of – the fact that the match was reduced to 25 overs a side because of a wet outfield, it more than fulfilled expectations.

More than 450 runs were scored in those 50 overs, the Rotterdammers almost succeeding in retaining their unbeaten record as they came within an ace of overhauling Voorburg’s massive 235 for two.

Star of the show for Voorburg was Cedric de Lange, whose 125, his third century in fourTopklasse innings, included 16 fours and four sixes as he shared an opening stand of 205 in 21 overs with Michael Levitt.

Levitt was subsequently run out for 73, and with Bas de Leede chipping in with a brisk 20 not out, Voorburg averaged nearly ten an over.

Despite losing Musa Ahmad in the third over of their reply Rotterdam were undaunted by the scale of their task, Muhammad Gondal making 61, and at 122 for two after 14 overs they were on course to pull off an extraordinary victory.

Then De Lange struck twice in successive overs, removing first Gondal and then Mohammad Riaz, and once Mees van Vliet had dismissed Sikander Zulfiqar it was left to Saqib Zulfiqar and Burhan Niaz to keep up the chase.

So successfully did they do so, adding 78 in seven overs, that with two overs left Rotterdam needed just 28 for victory.

But they could only manage 17, Niaz falling for 46 in the final over, and Saqib was left on 54 not out as Voorburg squeezed home by ten runs.

There was tension of a different kind at Maarschalkerweerd, where Kampong needed an unbroken 29-run last-wicket partnership between Gert Swanepoel and Shashank Kumar to see them to the narrowest of victories against VRA Amsterdam.

If the batters had been in complete charge in Voorburg, in Utrecht it was the bowlers who called the shots, VRA battling their way to 184 all out after collapsing to 112 for seven, Darsh Abhinay and Sharad Hake coming to their rescue with a last-wicket stand of their own, which produced 38 vital runs.

Abhinay top-scored with 40 not out, while Kampong’s spin trio of Pienaar Buys (three for 20), Pierre Jacod (two for 23) and Lorenzo Ingram (two for 32) collected seven wickets between them.

Kampong were soon in trouble when they replied, losing Daniel van den Berg and Scott Edwards by the time 14 runs were on the board, and although Max O’Dowd made 32 and Jacod 33, when three wickets fell for the addition of one run to leave them on 155 for nine, a VRA victory seemed certain.

But Swanepoel and Kumar gradually knocked off the remaining runs, taking their side to the win with eight deliveries to spare.

VOC had pulled off the shock of the season last week by beating Voorburg, but they were comprehensively brought down to earth at Craeyenhout, where HBS ran up a massive 337 for seven before dismissing their visitors for 175.

Four of the Crows’ top five made half-centuries, the sole exception being skipper Tayo Walbrugh, whose run of low scores continued when he fell to spinner Ethan Price for just 7.

But then Julien de Mey (56) and Lehan Botha (73 from 44 deliveries, with seven fours and four sixes) added 120 for the second wicket, and once they had gone, Kent Goedeke (63) and Lucas del Bianco (79) put on another 119 for the fourth.

Kyle Klein chipped in with a 22-ball 40 to complete VOC’s misery.

Only Jason van der Meulen was able to offer substantial resistance when the Bloodhounds replied, coming in at 27 for two and staying to the end; he was left on 75 not out as Goedeke ran through the lower order to finish with five for 47 and HBS collected their first points of the season by a thumping 162-run margin.

That was sufficient for them to reverse their net run rate situation, leap-frogging VOC and leaving them at the bottom of the table.

As at Westvliet, the overnight and early-morning rain brought a delayed start at De Diepput, reducing the match to 35 overs a side.

Put in to bat, Hermes-DVS lost Ash Ostling to a fine return catch by HCC’s Teun Kloppenburg off the very first ball, and in the following over Josh Brown had David Rushmere caught behind.

It was a start from which Hermes never really recovered, and although Nick Statham made a dogged 40 and Sebastiaan Braat a spirited 45, the innings closed on 136 for eight, Clayton Floyd picking up three for 23.

HCC were untroubled in chasing down this target, opener Tonny Staal batting through the innings for an unbeaten 51, while Kloppenburg smacked a 32-ball 51 not out to see the Lions to victory with nearly ten overs to spare.