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Qualifying Finals Preview

Bertus de Jong and Rod Lyall 07/09/2024

Just two games to go in this year’s Topklasse, three teams still in the running to claim the title. Punjab Rotterdam, having looked increasingly dominant all season, were tested to the limit by VRA last week but clung on for a one-wicket win to claim their place in next week’s Grand Final, along with hosting rights at the Zomercomplex. VRA will have to bounce back quickly from that disappointment if they’re to see off defending champions Voorburg at the Amsterdamse Bos on Sunday in this week’s eliminator semi-final and book a place in the final at the second attempt.

Meanwhile at the business end of the Hoofklasse champions-presumptive Kampong suffered a shock defeat to Quick Haag in the first semi-final, and will now have to face off against a resurgent Salland in the second to book a place in the final at Nieuw Hanenburg.

BdJ: League phase runners-up VRA owe their double shot at a place in the final in large part to the strength of their bench, with sometime second-teamers such as Luke Scully, Leon Turmaine, and Thomas Iles stepping up more than ably when injury or national duty deprived the Amsterdammers of first choice players. Similarly Johan Smal has again proved an able stand-in captain with Teja Nidamanuru sidelined for most of the season. Their most significant challenge on Saturday may simply be coming back from such an agonising loss at the Zomercomplex, having come so close to earning a week off and a home final. VRA have not lost a game at home since mid July, though it should be noted that owing to the vagaries of the schedule they’ve only played two matches at the Bos in that time. Nonetheless they’ve battled their way to the final three in impressive fashion, newcomer Ben Fletcher has proved as effective a spearhead as his new-ball predecessors at the Bos, such as Fred Klaassen and Quirijn Gunning, and one wouldn’t bet against the left arm seamer following them in donning the orange. The slow-bowling section of course already boasts a couple of current internationals, Shariz Ahmad and Clayton Floyd, along with the stalwart Turmaine and promising Udit Nashier comprising arguably the strongest spin attack in the competition. The somewhat hit-and-miss top order (Smal excepted) is perhaps also a concern as while VRA can bat as deep as 9 or 10, they often line up with just three or four players for whom batting is their primary discipline, and Smal is the only one with an average north of fifty this season.

Voorburg by contrast boast three, though top-scorer Gavin Kaplan has now of course returned to South Africa. Compounding the loss of Kaplan, pace spearhead Viv Kingma remains in doubt owing to a heel injury, while leggie Flip Boissevain – the stand-out in VCC win over HCC in the eliminator last week – has headed back to New Zealand. VCC don’t have the depth of experience on the bench that VRA can call upon, but youngsters such as Cedric de Lange and Alejo Nota have at times played crucial roles when needed, not least in that win against HCC. Of course one might argue that Voorburg will be under extra pressure come Saturday after taking the call to prioritise the Topklasse title defense last week and call up the pair to the firsts again, leaving their weakened seconds to fend for themselves in a relegation showdown away at Dosti, which would cost them their place in the Hoofklasse. Despite the return of Michael Levitt and Ryan Klein from international commitments it’s likely VCC will be fielding a smattering of youngsters again come Saturday, though they will be more seasoned now than at the beginning of the summer. Should VCC win through to the final again this season, it will be thanks in no small part to the efforts of those youngsters. That said VRA won comfortably when last the two met, even if conditions at the Bos are unlikely to provide quite the same assistance to VRA’s spinners as that Westvliet deck, though given Boissevain’s absence and VRA’s wealth of slow-bowling options they may be tempted to prepare something similar, weather permitting.

RL: These sides last met in the 50-over finals in 2021, and such is the whirligig of time that only half-a-dozen players from that game (at most) are likely to play on either side in this one. On that occasion Voorburg won before going on to lose to Punjab in the grand final, so both sides will be hoping that there is a different outcome this year. Among the VRA top order Vikram Singh’s appearances have of course been limited by international commitments, and his 304 runs so far at 38.00, with a couple of half-centuries, represent a reasonable rather than outstanding return. He batted at three last week – now, seemingly, his normal position in the national side – to allow room for Demari Prince and Shirase Rasool to open, although it must be acknowledged that neither has had a stellar season in that role. The shaky top order is compensated, though, by the value of Shariz Ahmad, and at times Clayton Floyd, further down. For the visitors, the emergence of Ryan Klein as a middle-order batter has been one of the season’s more significant features, and what may have been at first a response to his absence from the attach has turned into a real asset, potentially for the Dutch side as well as for Voorburg. The other returnees, Levitt and Croes, could of course prove to be trump cards, and Levitt actually contributed more with the ball against HCC than he did with the bat. Both are capable of batting VRA out of the game, and the Amsterdammers will need to get them early if they are to advance to a rematch against Punjab-Ghausia.

BdJ: Down in the Hoofdklasse Kampong’s apparent procession to promotion was dramatically arrested at Maarschalkerweerd last week by the veterans of Quick Haag, the dogged efforts of national skipper Scott Edwards in vain as the rest of the Kampong batting line-up (Damien van den Berg’s entertaining early hitting excepted) wilted under pressure. To secure a rematch with Quick they’ll first have to get past Salland, who despite only managing a fourth-place finish in the league phase could be a tricky proposition should Kampong produce another such a batting performance. Yet while Salland’s bowling attack has been their principal strength this season – German left-arm spinner Akhil Gopinath currently leading the Hoofdklassse wicket-taking tally by some distance – they took a fair drubbing the last time they had to bowl at a full strength Kampong line-up. Meanwhile Salland themselves have passed 200 only once this season, and indeed have barely made 200 for 20 wickets across their two matches against Kampong. In short, both on paper and precedent Salland will be massive underdogs when they head to Maarschalkerweerd, with little but momentum in their favour. That said, pressure can do funny things, and there will only be one side under any kind of pressure on Saturday.

RL: All of the above. Further, Salland’s capacity for dramatic batting collapses extends back into their recent Topklasse experience as well: they only managed to top 200 three times in sixteen attempts in 2023, and that was with the now-departed Victor Lubbers in the side. As far as Kampong’s sub-par effort against Quick is concerned, the tone was set by the dismissal of Max O’Dowd off the third ball of the game, followed by that of Ratha Alphonse two overs later, and Salland will do extremely well to replicate that sort of start. The fact that the match is to be played at Thurlede (the football season having made Maarschalkerweerd unavailable) will doubtless encourage the bowlers on both sides, a not-insignificant factor for Kampong, who will have been disturbed by the inability of their attack to make much impression on Quick’s top order. The switch of venue means extra travelling for the side from Overijssel (and points east), but they will no doubt think that worth it if they are able to pull off another surprise and give themselves a shot at an early return to the top flight.

BdJ’s picks: VRA, Kampong

RL’s picks: Voorburg, Kampong.

Things get even tighter at the top

Rod Lyall 12/08/24

The battle for a spot in the top four tightened still further on Sunday, with just four points separating the top five teams and two games remaining.

Leaders Punjab-Ghausia missed an opportunity to go clear at the top when they collapsed against Hermes-DVS at the Loopuyt Oval, CP Klijnhans spinning them to a 50-run defeat with figures of six for 13.

Both sides wasted promising starts, Hermes, after being put in, reaching 198 for two thanks to Ash Ostling’s 79 and Daniel Doyle’s 41, but then adding only 55 more in the final twenty overs to finish on 243 for nine.

Sajjad Kamal was the most effective of Punjab’s bowlers with three for 32, while Khurram Shahzad was again economical with just 23 coming from his eight overs.

The Punjab reply began haltingly, Ralph Elenbaas removing both Shoaib Minhas (from the first ball he received) and Mohsin Riaz by the time 46 runs were on the board, but then Jonathan Vandiar and Saqib Zulfiqar added 107 for the third wicket, and Punjab seemed to be on course for a fairly routine victory.

But then Klijnhans took the ball, and with his second delivery he had a tired Vandiar caught by Sebastiaan Braat for 69.

Saqib followed off the first ball of his second, departing for 58, and with the last he had skipper Sikander Zulfiqar before he had scored.

When he added the scalp of Burhan Niaz he had four for 7, and with the steady Murid Ekrami chipping in with two wickets at the other end, Punjab had lost six for 15 in 55 deliveries; Shahzad led some stubborn resistance, but then Klijnhans returned to claim the last two, and Punjab were all out for 193.

HBS Craeyenhout missed an opportunity to go top when they were comprehensively beaten at home by VRA Amsterdam.

Without Vikram Singh, spinners Shariz Ahmad and Clayton Floyd and the injured Teja Nidamanuru, VRA were arguably even more hampered than their hosts, who had lost Wesley Barresi and Kyle Klein to international duties and Lehaan Botha to demands back in South Africa, but they never took their foot from the pedal once Johan Smal had won the toss and put HBS in.

Playing his first first-team match of the season, opener Manjinder Singh made an aggressive 32, and Matt de Villiers held the middle order together for a time with 61, but left-arm paceman Ben Fletcher took three for 19 and off-spinner Leon Turmaine three for 35, and HBS were all out for 143.

Shirase Rasool and Demari Prince then smacked 52 off the first five overs of VRA’s reply, and although Julian de Mey eventually trapped Prince in front for 29, Rasool continued to a run-a-ball 59, while Smal hammered a not-out 50 to ensure VRA’s victory in just 20.3 overs, doing considerable damage to the HBS net run rate in the process.

It was more understandable that Voorburg, without four Dutch internationals and the departed Gavin Kaplan, should struggle against a near full-strength HCC, but in fact it was the season’s most outstanding allround performance so far to earn the Lions the points.

Coming in at 105 for four as Voorburg fought back from a shaky start in which Tonny Staal had struck a 25-ball 49, Daniel Crowley compiled a career-best 67, made from 56 deliveries and including ten fours and two sixes, guiding his side almost single-handed to a defendable 195 all out.

Ex-international Philippe Boissevain was the pick of Voorburg’s bowlers with three for 28.

Crowley then proceeded to rip through the comparatively inexperienced Voorburg top order, removing Nehaan Gigani with his fourth delivery and then claiming three more victims within his first three overs to reduce the defending champions to 9 for four.

Then he bowled Boissevain and Adam Leonard bowled Michael Molenaar, and at 27 for six Voorburg were in danger of a truly cataclysmic collapse.

They were to a degree rescued by a dogged knock from stand-in captain Floris de Lange, who top-scored with 28, but two run-outs brought the end at 114, Crowley finishing with five for 38.

In Saturday’s matches in the Relegation Pool, victories for Sparta 1888 over Excelsior ’20 and for VOC Rotterdam against ACC ensured that the Amsterdam club would be playing in the Hoofdklasse next season.

Izhaan Sayed again top-scored for ACC with 48, stands of 72 with Ben van der Merwe (26) and 56 with Guy Sheena (28) getting his side to 139 for five, skipper Anis Raza’s 39 enabling them to reach 184 for nine; Aaditt Jain took three for 36 for VOC.

Sayed had Ryan Schierhout caught behind with his second delivery, but any thought of an ACC victory was snuffed out by an unbroken third-wicket stand of 172 between Taylor Bettelheim and Jock McKenzie.

Bettelheim hit his first Topklasse century, his 108 not out coming from 112 deliveries with ten fours and two sixes, while McKenzie finished on 60 as VOC won by eight wickets.

The encounter between Excelsior and Sparta at Thurlede was a classic relegation battle, Sparta overhauling their hosts’ 185 for nine in the penultimate over with just two wickets in hand.

Stan van Troost’s 49 enabled Excelsior to recover somewhat after they slumped to 75 for six, Cameron Fraser again doing much of the damage with four for 28, and Sam Ferguson then made a solid 68 to bring Sparta close to their target.

Victor Lubbers kept Excelsior in the fight with four for 31, but it was Umar Baker, batting at nine against his old club, whose unbeaten 41 ensured that Sparta squeezed home with nine deliveries to spare.

VRA squeeze past ACC and into the top six

Rod Lyall 21/07/24

VRA Amsterdam took the two points they needed to make sure of a place in the top six when they secured a two-wicket victory at Het Loopveld on Saturday, but they had to battle to achieve it against an ACC side which was more competitive than it had been throughout the 50-over campaign so far.

Put in to bat, ACC had passed 150 for the first time this season, their innings given a promising start by an opening stand of 43 between Rahil Ahmad (32) and Chris Knoll (23), the latter making his first appearance of the year, and although the VRA attack worked their way steadily though the line-up Guy Sheena, Ben van der Merwe and Shreyas Potdar all chipped in, enabling them to reach 167.

Shariz Ahmad was the most successful of VRA’s bowlers with three for 35, Clayton Floyd and Elijah Eales picking up a couple apiece.

It seemed unlikely to be enough, but when Izhaan Sayed, Sahil Kothari and Mahesh Hans combined to reduce VRA to 70 for four the home side sensed that they were in with a chance of a shock victory.

Eales steadied the ship with 40, but when he departed36 were still needed with only three wickets in hand, and it was left to Udit Nashier to steer his side home with an unbeaten 35, supported in the agonisingly slow closing stages by Ben Fletcher.

The VRA win was a disappointment for Hermes-DVS, who had done everything that might be asked of them as they chased the final top-six spot, beating defending champions Voorburg by 49 runs at Westvliet.

Defending a total of 193, in which Daniel Doyle had made 35 and CP Klijnhans 48, the five-man Hermes pace attack quickly had Voorburg in trouble, Olivier Elenbaas removing both openers, and Niels Woermeijer and Sam van Giezen claiming the prize wickets of Gavin Kaplan and Noah Croes respectively.

That made it 37 for four, and although Ryan Klein – who had earlier signalled his return to fitness by bowling a full 10-over stint for the first time this season – held things together with a fighting 35, Sebastiaan Braat eventually claimed his wicket along with two others to finish with three for 30, and Voorburg were all out for 144.

VOC Rotterdam’s last hopes of avoiding the relegation pool were meanwhile being extinguished by HCC at De Diepput, where the home side had a comfortable 80-run victory after setting the day’s highest total, 247 for seven.

HCC had themselves been in trouble at 110 for five, but they were rescued by two half-century partnerships, Daniel Crowley (27) and Hidde Overdijk adding 67 for the sixth wicket, and then Overdijk and Yash Patel putting on a further 55 for the seventh.

Overdijk was eventually bowled by Jock McKenzie for 58, but Patel remained not out on 44, made from 28 deliveries with three fours and two sixes.

HCC’s own seam attack soon bit back when VOC replied, Crowley, Adam Leonard, Overdijk and Teun Leijer reducing the visitors to 68 for four, and although Arnav Jain made 40 and Jason van der Meulen 32, the Rotterdammers were never really in the hunt, and the final wicket fell at 167.

The day’s results meant that the two pools for Phase Two were largely finalised, although Hermes-DVS still have a pathway into the top six should they beat Sparta at home on Sunday and Excelsior lose to Punjab-Ghausia.

With the NRR difference between the Schiedam sides currently just 0.058, there are many scenarios in which Hermes could squeeze ahead of their rivals.

And with only three points separating first and sixth, Sunday’s final round of first-phase matches will have also a great bearing on the coming battle for a spot in the semi-finals at the end of August.

Ralston grabs seven for Excelsior, but VRA go top

Rod Lyall 23/06/24

For the first time in this season’s 50-over Topklasse competition the weather relented sufficiently for a full round of fixtures to be played, complete and uninterrupted, added interest coming from the return of the Dutch international side from the Caribbean.

VRA Amsterdam took full advantage of the fact, retaining their unbeaten record by bowling HCC out for 72 at De Diepput to win by 134 runs and move back to the top of the table.

The home side, also previously unbeaten, had done well to restrict the Amsterdammers to 206 all out, 92 from Johan Smal, who shared a third-wicket stand of 107 with skipper Teja Nidamanuru (39), instrumental in VRA’s achieving that total.

Conor McInerney removed both batters, going on to take four for 24, while Andrew Leonard returned to clean up the tail and finish with three for 29.

But when HCC replied Ben Fletcher (three for 12 in seven overs) and Elijah Eales combined to rip the top off the batting, and at 43 for six the Lions were effectively out of the game.

Shariz Ahmad now took over, taking four for 24 as the slide continued, and no-one was able to make more than Teun Kloppenburg’s 13 in HCC’s disappointing total.

If VRA’s demolition of HCC was a team effort, at Thurlede it was Excelsior’s Australian paceman Jason Ralston who was almost single-handedly responsible for his side’s even more dramatic destruction of the HBS battiing.

His figures of seven for 11 were the best ever in the club’s limited-overs top-flight history, beating Jorg Henneke’s seven for 25 against Kampong Utrecht in 1997, and they saw the Crows slump to 66 all out as they chased Excelsior’s fairly modest 163.

Kyle Klein had done much of the damage after Wesley Barresi put Excelsior in, taking four for 36, but Lorenzo Ingram stood firm, holding the tail together and making 62 before he was the last man dismissed.

Excelsior could also thank Niels Etman, who made 32 in an eighth-wicket partnership of 46 with Ingram before he was run out by Klein.

Lehan Botha and Reece Mason got the HBS total to 21 before Ralston struck, but then six wickets fell in 35 deliveries for the addition of just six runs, and although Barresi and Julian de Mey delayed the procession for a time until Jens Blankestijn removed De Mey, Ralston then returned to have Barresi caught behind for 21, the last four wickets falling for one additional run.

There was drama of a different sort elsewhere, not least at Westvliet, where defending champions Voorburg staged a strong fightback before losing to Punjab-Ghausia by six runs.

The Rotterdam side had set a fairly stiff target, their 248 for seven dominated by an unbeaten 97 from returning international Saqib Zulfiqar, and they appeared to have occupied the box seat when they had their hosts on 43 for four, with Michael Levitt, Gavin Kaplan and Noah Croes all back in the team tent.

Ahmad Shafiq had done much of that early damage, claiming three of the wickets at a cost of 10 runs, but then Ryan Klein, unable to bowl but undoubtedly fit enough to bat, and Michael Molenaar turned the game around with a fifth-wicket stand of 154.

This was another club record for the top flight, following Kaplan and Croes’s 202 for the third wicket three weeks ago, and it took Voorburg to within 52 runs of their target before Sajjad Kamal induced a false shot by Molenaar, who was well caught by Saqib at straightish deep mid-on.

Molenaar had made a 76-ball 72, but Klein was still there, and it was clear that much now depended on how effectively he was able to manage the lower order.

Together with Laurens Boissevain, Stijn de Leede and Floris de Lange he added another 32, but with 20 needed he pulled Kamal to Mohsin Riaz at backward square and departed for 92, made from 75 deliveries with six fours and three sixes.

De Lange and Viv Kingma reduced the deficit to single figures, but then Sikander Zulfiqar returned, producing a captain’s spell to have both De Lange and last man Mees de Vliet caught behind by Fawad Shinwari, and Punjab had squeezed home.

The drama was equally tense at the Hazelaarweg, where VOC Rotterdam, having conceded the largest total of the day when Hermes-DVS posted 261 for seven, won by one wicket with two deliveries to spare.

The VOC attack was depleted by the loss of Jock McKenzie who, in his third over of the day, deflected a powerful straight drive from Daniel Doyle into the stumps to run out Ashley Ostling, but in the process injured his right hand so severely that he was forced to leave the field.

Doyle went on to make 40, and with 50 from Aryan Dutt and 77 from Sebastiaan Braat Hermes had good reason to be happy with their batting effort.

Ralph Elenbaas then had Francois Fourie caught behind before he had scored, but Ryan Schierhout (74) and Taylor Bettelheim (69) added 125 for the second wicket, putting their side in a strong position until Braat returned to remove Bettelheim and run out Schierhout.

Tim de Kok and Jelte Schoonheim steadied the VOC ship, but Niels Woermeijer and Braat claimed their wickets, and effective resistance from the lower order again kept the Bloodhounds in touch with the required rate.

So effectively did they do so, indeed, that Roman Harhangi and Asief Hoseinbaks needed only ten off Woermeijer’s final over.

Harhangi was trapped in front by the first ball, and there was uncertainty on the field as to whether the injured McKenzie would come out to bat as last man.

He duly appeared, and proceeded to hit a four and a huge straight six to give his side the victory which had eluded them against Excelsior a week ago.

In the crucial relegation battle at the Bermweg Sparta 1888 reduced ACC to 24 for five before Guy Sheena’s 61, supported by lesser contributions from Anis Raza and Izhaan Sayed, enabled the visitors to muster 148, Sparta skipper Martijn Snoep taking three for 15 from ten overs with no fewer than six maidens.

Sam Ferguson led the way for Sparta with 59, but it was Shaquille Martina, in his first substantial innings for his new club, who saw the home side through to victory with an unbeaten 54, adding 55 with Cameron Fraser in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership with gave Sparta their seven-wicket win.

Topklasse T20 | Round 6 Preview

Bertus de Jong 16/05/24

As the final round of T20 League matches approaches, the unseasonably wet weather has left us with a substantial backlog of catch-up games to get through at the back end too, with almost as many rain-repeats scheduled over the next few days as actual Round 6 games. Further complicating the schedule is of course the arrival of the international season, with Scotland and Ireland in town for a tri-series that will pull a number of players out of domestic cricket as the scramble for playoff spots comes to a head.

A total of ten matches remain, to be played over the course of the weekend and Easter Monday. One side has already booked their place for finals day, hosts Voorburg, two points clear at the top of the table, can no longer drop out of the top four. That’s perhaps fortunate for them as they may lose a number of players to international duty – Vivian Kingma, Sybrand Engelbrecht and Michael Levitt unlikely to be available for their catch-up against HBS on the eve of the international tri-series, and even less likely to feature against HCC the next day.

For HBS Craeyenhout, currently in second place but unbeaten and with three games in hand, only a catastrophic final stretch could see them miss out. While they likely lose Kyle Klein and skipper Wesley Barresi to national duty, they only need one win from their three matches against Voorburg, Punjab, or Excelsior to be sure of progressing, and perhaps not even that considering their robust net run rate advantage. While Barresi and Klien have been key to the Crows success thus far, it’s hard to see them missing out from here.

Similarly HCC, though they lose the services of Tim Pringle, have two games in hand to make sure of their spot in the top four, one against a likely weakened Voorburg and another against wooden-spooners Salland, who have not looked like winning a game all season. Though the Lions’ core trio of Staal, Gorlee and Overdijk looked a bit rusty early in the season, all three have started to fire, while young Teun Leijer continues to impress. Though their poor net run rate does mean they will almost certainly need some points to make the playoffs, they’re pretty well-placed to collect them.

All of which makes for a nervous few days on the sidelines for VRA, who have completed all their fixures with five wins from nine and a solid but not insurmountable NRR of +0.85. Hermes DVS could yet leapfrog them, though it would take an emphatic win in their final match – the Schiedam Derby against Excelsior– to the tune of about 60-65 runs or with about 8 overs to spare if chasing. That looks a tall order given that they’ll likely be without Aryan Dutt and just possibly Olivier Elenbaas if the latter’s called up as cover for absentees. Any win could still be enough for the Sky Blues, but it would take a lot of improbable results going their way, having frittered away an excellent start to the season. If Daniel Doyle Calle or CP Klijnhand recover some of their early form one could still envisage a last ditch recovery, but finals day looks a long shot for Hermes as it stands.

Excelsior ‘20 themselves could still sneak in too if they got on a run this weekend, with three games in hand and three wins probably enough. In addition to the derby, Excelsior face HBS and Salland in their final matches. Unlike HBS, Excelsior won’t lose any players to the national team, and if they can take the hnours against rivals Hermes they will feel they’re in with a real chance of a surge up the table.

Meanwhile defending champions VOC Rotterdam are slightly better-placed to storm into the top four, level with Excelsior on two wins and a no result for 5 points in the bank with three games to go. The Bloodhounds will be away for all three fixtures however, first heading to Bermweg to take on Sparta, then the Zomercomplex to face Punjab, and finally Craeyenhout against HBS for their final match. With both Sparta 1888 and Punjab-Ghausia already out of contention (as are Salland of course), a full-strength VOC probably pose the greatest threat to HCC and VRA’s position in the top four. By the time Monday roles around HBS may already be safe as well, meaning VOC would exclusively be playing opponents with nothing to gain or lose.

All told there’s plenty of possibilities and permutations still in play, and the final four may well not be decided before the final match on Monday.

Voorburg go top, but HBS stay unbeaten

Rod Lyall 13/05/24

Voorburg tmade sure on Sunday of a place at the T20 finals day they will be hosting on 26 May, when they saw off a spirited challenge from Excelsior ’20 at Westvliet and won by eight wickets.

Excelsior’s imposing total of 197 for three was set up skipper Roel Verhagen’s 39-ball 70, 47 from Stan van Troost, and a composed fourth-wicket stand of 51 in 27 deliveries between Lorenzo Ingram (37 not out) and Derek Mitchell (22 not out), although it could have been even higher but for effective spells from Voorburg’s Sybrand Engelbrecht and Michael Molenaar.

The Schiedammers threatened to take the upper hand when they removed both openers, but the game was taken away from them by an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 146 between Gavin Kaplan, whose 81 not out came from just 52 deliveries, and Engelbrecht (64 not out from 43), the winning run coming with just one ball to spare.

It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Excelsior, who had brought themselves back into contention for a semi-final spot with victories over Punjab-Ghausia on Friday evening and VRA the following day.

Not for the first time, Excelsior showed remarkable resilience in defending a low total against Punjab: Saqib Zulfiqar’s four for 27 had been instrumental in dismissing them for a disappointing 118, Mitchell top-scoring with 33, and at 84 for three in the 14^th over Punjab appeared to be cruising.

But then Jason Ralston bowled Jonathan Vandiar for 33 and a remarkable collapse ensued: five more wickets fell for the addition of just 16 runs, and even a late flurry from Sajjad Kamal left them nine runs short.

Ralston finished with three for 19, Niels Etman giving excellent support with two for 20.

A much more assured batting performance enabled Excelsior to take command of the game against VRA on Saturday: Tim Etman (53 from 34) and Verhagen (28 from 23) put on 86 for the first wicket, and then it was Ingram and Mitchell who closed out the innings, Ingram finishing with an unbeaten 32-ball 47.

VRA’s reply never really got out of first gear, the best partnership 31 for the second wicket between Vikram Singh and Abul Sheikh. The wickets were shared, Ingram, Ralston, Niels Etman, Lubbers and Luuk Kroesen picking up two apiece as VRA were all out for 111.

A wretched weekend for VRA continued into Sunday, when another batting collapse saw them slump to a 20-run defeat by HCC at De Diepput.

They had started brilliantly, Ben Fletcher removing Jed Wiggins with the first ball of the match and Bob Entrop, returning to first-team cricket after a 14-year absence, shortly afterwards, and although Tonny Staal contributed 31 and Conor McInerney 34 it took a defiant 31 not out from Patient Charumbira in the closing stages to get them up to 138 for eight, Fletcher finishing with three for 34.

Again VRA’s batting let them down: despite Singh’s 32, marked chiefly by three consecutive sixes off Hidde Overdijk, they were soon in desperate trouble at 54 for seven, the damage having been done by Daniel Crowley at the top of the innings and then by Adam Leonard (four for 11) and Wiggins (three for 20).

Elijah Eales (23) and Udit Nashier (29 not out) put up significant resistance towards the end, limiting the NRR damage somewhat, but the side was dismissed for 118, and VRA, having completed their programme, will now have to wait to see whether results elsewhere mean that their five earlier wins will be enough to see them to the finals day. It seems unlikely.

Also likely to miss out on a spot at Westvliet on 26 May are Hermes-DVS, whose nine-wicket defeat by VOC on Saturday was only partially offset by their subsequent 33-run victory over Punjab-Ghausia.

Despite Daniel Doyle’s 40 and 21 from Aryan Dutt, Hermes could only manage 118 in their first game, Jelte Schoonheim taking three for 27 for VOC and Arnav Jain and Asief Hoseinbaks picking up two wickets apiece.

It was never likely to be enough, and VOC rattled off the runs in 13.3 overs, thanks to an opening stand of 95 between Ryan Schierhout (37) and Francois Fourie (59 not out from 38).

But then Doyle produced the individual batting performance of the weekend, smashing his second century of the campaign with an unbeaten, 57-ball 101 which saw his side to 179 for four, Ashley Ostling contributing 38.

Olivier Elenbaas quickly struck twice when Punjab replied, and although Saqib Zulfiqar made a 47-ball 66 the visitors steadily fell behind the required rate and ended on 146 for six.

HBS, meanwhile, were maintaining their unbeaten record with a comfortable six-wicket victory over Sparta 1888 at the Bermweg.

An unrelenting Crows’ attack never let their hosts off the hook, and although Juandre Scheepers hit a defiant 45 which included four sixes, he received little support, and the innings closed on 123 for eight.

At 28 for three HBS wobbled slightly, but then Matthew de Villiers and Wesley Barresi steadied the reply, adding 73 for the fourth wicket before De Villiers fell to the admirable Ahsan Malik for a 22-ball 42.

Barresi continued in company with Kyle Klein, moving to 49 not out with the six which secured HBS the win.

Topklasse T20 | Round 4 Preview

Bertus de Jong 08/05/2024

With 15 games to be played over four days, the Ascension Day weekend looks set to be decisive for the Topklasse T20 season, at least in terms of who’s likely to feature in the play-offs. Two complete triple-headers and two teams trekking out East gives us eight Round 4 games on Thursday, plus an orphaned Round 1 catch-up match on Friday for nine games before Round 5 kicks off on Saturday.

VOC Rotterdam welcome current table-toppers VRA and third-placed Voorburg to Hazelaarweg for the first three-way, and will be hoping to make as good use of home advantage as their opponents have thus far. The Bloodhounds have only gotten two matches played so far, and lost one of those to HCC, so four points are basically a must for them on Thursday. Overseas bat Jock McKenzie and Ryan Schierhout have proved more than adequate replacements for the departed O’Dowd and Edwards, while Asief Hoseinbaks is having an exellent season with the ball. Nonetheless VRA’s hitting power will be cause for concern at Hazelaarweg, with Dutch internationals Vikram singh and Teja Nidamanuru both in the runs and (rumoured Dutch residancy aspirant) Elijah Eales has been a force down the order. VRA’s own bowling has struggled to stem the scoring this season though, and both the other sides at Hazelaarweg have the batting to take advantage. Voorburg’s top order hasn’t really fired in club cricket, though the club is the chief supplier of bats to the national side for good reason. Young Nehaan Gigani’s had a chance to steal the spotlight as his international team-mates have struggled, while Floris de Lange’s five-for last week suggests their slow-bowling worries may be overblown.

Meanwhile HCC host Punjab-Ghausia and Sparta 1888 in the day’s other full triple-header, in what’s most likely to be a decisive day’s play for the table. HCC and Sparta are both firmly mid-table on four points, while Punjab are two points behind with games in hand. HCC’s sixth-place position arguably flatters them, having struglled with both bat and ball this season. Not one HCC bat averages over 30 in their four matches, while young Teun Leijer’s outshone his more senior team-mates with the ball. The addition of Tim Pringle helps in both departments, but the Lions will look for greater contributions from Gorlee, Overdijk and Staal. Sparta meanwhile have had a profoundly up-and-down season, on the receiving end of two trouncings at the Amsterdamse Bos in Round 2 but bouncing back to best Excelsior fairly comfortably last weekend. Riley Mudford looks perhaps the most dangerous bat in the competiton, while Khalid Ahmadi has been in fine form with ball in hand, and so too has the veteran Ahsan Malik when he’s been available. There’s been little match-winning threat on show from the rest of the side yet though, and when things have gone badly for them they’ve gone very badly indeed.

Hermes DVS and HBS Craeyenhout make the trip to Deventer to take on last-placed Salland, though the two visiting sides won’t be playing each other. Salland’s season so far has seen them endure a series of drubbings, their net run rate of negative seven refelecting how they’ve been hopelessly outclassed. The absence of the German contingent owing to a national training camp robbed them of much of their side, but even at full strength they’ve looked far from competitive thus far. Hermes by contrast exploded out of the gate ton top-flight return, but stumbled last week when their top order twice misfired. Two round 3 defeats at the hands of Voorburg and HBS exposed a dependence on openers CP Klijnhans and Daniel Doyle Calle, though Salland hardly look in shape to take advantage of any vulnerability. HBS versus Salland is on paper the easiest match to call all season. Salland are still winless, HBS undefeated, and it would take a remarkable upset to change that tomorrow.

Excelsior have a bye for Round 4, but do have a catch-up Round 1 match against Punjab scheduled for Friday night at Thurlede. With just a single point from their double wash-out against VOC thus far the Schiedammers will be desperate to get a win on the board. They still have two games in hand over most of the field so their position is hardly irrecoverable, but another defeat would likely finish their play-off hopes.

Rod Lyall è in vacanza

Topklasse T20 | Round 3 Preview

Bertus de Jong 02/05/2024

With the welcome arrival of Spring sunshine we’ve a bumper weekend of Topklasse T20 to look forward to assuming the warm weather holds, with ~~two~~ one catch-up matches from round one scheduled in addition to the eight regular round three games on Saturday.

VOC Rotterdam will travel to Thurlede ~~on Friday evening to take on Punjab-Ghausia, and then again~~ (oh no they won’t it’s been postponed again -BdJ) on Sunday to face Excelsior ‘20 in addition to their single round 3 home match against HCC on Saturday. The Rotterdammers look to be shaping up decently enough, with Ryan Schierhout the stand-out thus far of the three overseas brought in to replace Edwards and O’Dowd, stiking 85 off 40 in their win over Salland last week. Asief Hoseinbak’s six wicket haul in that match grabbed the headlines for the round, but even a convincing 167-run win over the hapless Salland tells us little of course. Their prospects in their one regular round 3 game are complicated by the the presence of a number of Netherlands World Cup hopefuls in the Netherlands for the Pro-Series, meaning HCC may be able to call on the services of left-arm spin pair Tim Pringle and Daniel Doram for the game. If either or both play it could add some much needed control to the Lions’ attack, which has struggled both to contain and penetrate – young Teun Leijer the notable exception in that regard.

Punjab have a home trilateral on Saturday in addition to their friday night catch-up with VOC, welcoming VRA and Salland to the Zomercomplex. Punjab’s one match so far saw them take down the more-fancied Voorburg in emphatic fashion, Muhammad Shafiq the star with the ball and Musa Ahmad leading the with a blistering 92 off 41. Ahmad’s mercurial form is a bit of a worry however, having struggled in the pro-series so far. In the absence of Jonathan Vandiar which Musa turns up may prove decisive, with the rest of the batting still comparatively untested this season. Salland have thus far shown little indication that they have the firepower with bat or ball to challenge the rest of the field, though Pruss and Malikzai have looked handy additions there’s Sallanders have generally looked out of their depth in the top flight this season. VRA meanwhile bounced back from their opening defeat to HBS, taking full advantage of the small dimensions of their second ground to rack up wins over Sparta and a high-flying Hermes. The big question at the start of the season was how well the overhauled VRA side would gel, and indeed be able to transcend the off-field drama that seems to be engulfing the club. Based on last week’s showing, the side seems largely unphased. Vikram Singh’s form with bat and ball looks the Amsterdammers’ greatest strength at the minute, along with Elijah Eale’s hitting down the order, though most of the squad are looking an decent enough nick.

At the top end of the table unbeaten HBS Craeyenhout and early frontrunners Hermes DVS head to Wesvliet to take on Voorburg CC, who host the second of the weekend’s triple-headers. The hosts are right up in the mix at the top end too on two wins from three despite not looking at their best this season. Michael Levitt has yet to replicate his pre-season form in club cricket, while pace spearhead Vivian Kingma has been sidelined as a preacution as he nurses a side niggle. While Logan van Beek is in town it’s not thought likely that he’ll play, leaving the bowling looking a little threadbare. They’ll have a job containing Hermes, who have been racking up 200+ totals from the off thanks in large part to CP Klijnhans and Daniel Doyle-Calle, the latter currently leading the run-scoring in the competition with 223 runs at a strike rate over 200. With Klijnhans and skipper Sebastiaan Braat at 3 and 4 in the aggregates, the newly-promoted Schiedammers have had the most effective batting unit in the competition so far. The HBS top order has the pedigree to match them in principle, though it’s been Kyle Klein down the order and with ball in hand that’s been the stand-out performer for the Crows this season, the younger Klein also looking in excellent rhythm in the Pro-Series.

Finally, along with their catch-up fixture against VOC on Sunday, Excelsior ‘20 have a single round 3 match at home to Sparta 1888 the day before, with both sides looking to turn around a tough start to the season. Excelsior have only gotten on the park once thus far in an abbreviated encounter away at HCC that saw them slump to DLS defeat. Newcomer Jason Ralton had a particularly tough introduction to Dutch cricket as his pace was clubbed for 62 runs in 4 overs, and indeed only the veteran left arm spinner Lorenzo Ingram and ex-Salland skipper Victor Lubbers can be said to have had a good day with the ball. While Sparta had a very rough day with the ball on the VRA second ground last Saturday, there’s plenty of firepower in their batting, not least new keeper-bat Riley Mudford. Belgian seamer Khalid Ahmadi has also had a fine season with the ball so far, but Sparta felt the absence of wiley ex-Dutch international Ahsan Malik last round, and whether he’ll be available for a one-off game at Thurlede on Saturday is one of the big questions hanging over the round.

Overseas players dominate a rain-affected opening day

Rod Lyall 21/04/24

There was some good cricket played in Saturday’s opening round of this season’s Topklasse T20 Cup despite the weather, but that is by no means the most important dimension of the day’s events.

For the first time in the 134-year history of the Dutch competition, more overseas-produced players took the field in top-flight games than those who had learned their cricket in the Netherlands – the actual figure was 57%.

This remarkable statistic is perhaps skewed a little by the fact that three teams did not play, the triple-header at Thurlede having been called off on Friday night after a week of heavy rain, but nevertheless the trend is clear: the leading Dutch clubs are relying ever more heavily on imported players in their quest for silverware.

Of the seven teams who did play, only three fielded a majority of Dutch-produced players, and one, Salland, actually put out a side without a single member who had learned their cricket in this country.

Without being xenophobic about it, you have to ask whether it is in the long-term interests of Dutch cricket that home-produced players should be marginalised in this way, and whether the clubs who are ready to splash so much cash to try to build a championship-winning team might not be better off using their scarce resources on youth development and recruiting new members.

This is doubtless a topic to which we shall return, since the policy implications for Dutch cricket are enormous, but in all fairness it needs to be recorded that the two most notable innings of the opening day were played by South Africans making their Dutch debut.

At Schiedam’s Loopuyt Oval, a ground which did not exist when Hermes-DVS last played in the top flight, the Sky Blues’ winning return was spearheaded by opener Christoffel Klijnhans, who hammered a superb, 46-ball 114 which included six fours and ten sixes, sharing an opening stand of 155 with Spanish international Daniel Calle Doyle.

In a match reduced to 19 overs after an initial delay the pair completely dominated the HCC attack for the first 11 of them, and after Klijnhans had finally fallen to the youngster Teun Leijer Doyle went on to make 73 from 41 deliveries, helped by skipper Sebastiaan Braat’s 19-ball 43 not out.

Hermes’ 239 for three effectively put the match out of HCC’s reach, and with spinners Aryan Dutt and Murid Ekrami keeping things tight early, the visitors had reached 77 for two in 10.2 overs, well behind the required rate and the DLS par score, when more rain swept in and proceedings came to an end.

Meanwhile at the Bermweg, Sparta 1888’s new wicketkeeper, Riley Mudford was putting the Salland attack to the sword in still more devastating vein, his 136 coming from 45 deliveries and including nine fours and 13 sixes.

He, too, had valuable support, sharing a second-wicket stand of 179 in 11.5 overs with Sam Ferguson (75 from 44) as Sparta ran up a massive 244 for four.

Then former international Ahsan Malik took over, running through the Salland top order to the tune of four for 19 in his four overs, and the Deventer side were eventually dismissed for just 84.

Salland did a little better in their second match, largely thanks to a defiant 52 from young German international Arcelan Pruss, but their 120 for seven never seemed likely to be enough against Voorburg, and with skipper Noah Croes making a 29-ball 47 and opener Nehaan Gigani anchoring the innings with 44 not out, the Villagers cruised to a seven-wicket victory with 46 balls to spare.

The strength of the Voorburg attack was confirmed in the final game of the day, Sparta battling their way to 125 for eight, opener Shaquille Martina showing that his skills have not suffered hugely from his time away from the game with a solid 35 and Khalid Ahmadi chipping in with an 18-ball 25 in the latter stages.

Gigani again led the way for his side with 49 from 31 deliveries, but Sparta’s bowlers fought all the way, and it took an unbeaten 28 from young allrounder Michael Molenaar to see Voorburg to a three-wicket win in the 18^th over.

The greatest excitement, and not a little confusion, was generated at Craeyenhout, where a rain-affected game between HBS and VRA Amsterdam went down to the final delivery.

After a delayed start and in miserable conditions, a new-look VRA side reached 140 for five in 13.4 overs, although it was well-established Dutch international opener Vikram Singh who set the tone with a rousing 17-ball 32.

Sint Maarten-born keeper Semari Prince contributed 31, Bangladeshi Abul Khayer Biprob Sheikh made 21, and then Shariz Ahmad and Australian Elijah Eales maintained the pressure as the rain threatened, smacking 15 from nine and 24 from eight respectively.

After a long delay it seemed that HBS would be chasing 120 from 11 overs, and for a time it looked as if this would be beyond them, Ben Fletcher, Singh and Ashir Abid combining to reduce the home side to 66 for four.

But Matthew de Villiers had produced a rapid 20, and once he was gone Kyle Klein’s eight-ball 27, 26 of them in boundaries, swung the game back towards the home side.

There were seven deliveries left when Klein holed out at long on and five (or, as it proved, six) runs required, and with Eales bowling a tightly- controlled final over it took until the final delivery for Lucas del Bianco to secure the winning single, with Wesley Barresi at the other end having made a crucial 27 not out.

T20 Previews | Punjab & HCC

Rod Lyall 17/04/24

Punjab Rotterdam topped the Topklasse T20 table last year jointly with HCC, although both eventually lost their semi-finals. Punjab, who have merged with Rotterdam neighbours Ghausia Feyenoord over the winter, will unquestionably be strengthened by the return of Jonathan Vandiar from HCC, and by the arrival of Dutch international Musa Ahmad from Voorburg.

Musa, the leading scorer in the T20 round robin last year with 348 runs at an average of 58.00 and a strike rate of nearly 128, will slot into a Zulfiqar-heavy Punjab top order alongside the returning Shoiab Minhas and potentially Stephan Myburgh, who is rumoured to be mulling a competitive return. Although Vandiar had a very quiet campaign for the Diepput club, is always at his most menacing at ‘t Zomercomplex.

The Ghausia merger has also boosted Punjab’s squad list significantly, most notably with allrounder Danish Ateeq, who hit 295 runs with a strike rate of almost 188 in last season’s Eerste Klasse T20 as well as claiming 14 wickets, and Bilal Saleem, whose 405 runs at 57.86 and a strike rate of over 150; it will be interesting to see whether either or both of these players force themselves into the new-look Punjab side.

The same applies to Sajjad Kamal who, like Musa, moves to ‘t Zomercomplex from Voorburg; he found himself in the seconds at Westvliet last year, but he, too, may be a contender for a first-team with Punjab. He’ll also be facing competition from Belgian international Burhan Niaz, who makes the switch from VOC.

Then, inevitably, there are the four Zulfiqars, triplets Asad, Saqib and Sikander and elder brother Rehmat: they have collectively anchored the top order in the years since they moved from ACC, while Sikander’s brisk pace and Saqib’s leg spin have both contributed substantially to Punjab’s attack.

Sikander takes over the captaincy from the veteran Sulaiman Tariq this season, though the former skipper will doubtless still have plenty to contribute with the ball. Together with Muhammad Shafiq and the greatly-improved Mubashar Hussain, Tariq’s wiley medium pace accounted for the lion’s share of the wickets last year; the trio took 42 between them, two-thirds of those captured by the side in their eight games.

A slightly unkind draw gives Punjab only three games at ‘t Zomercomplex, where they are undoubtedly at their most effective, but they are well adapted to the T20 format and it would be no surprise if they were again to make it to the finals day.

T20 Record: 2023 SF | ’22 GS | ’21 SF | ’20 QF | ’19 QF | ’18 GS | ’17 SF | ’16 N/A | ’15 N/A | ’14 N/A

HCC have opted for a triple Antipodean strengthening of their squad, recruiting New Zealanders Adam Leonard and Jed Wiggins and South Australian Conor McInerney to compensate them for the non-return of Daniel Doram and the departures of Vandiar to Punjab, left-arm spinner Clayton Floyd to VRA and medium-pacer Henrico Venter to HBS.

27-year-old allrounder Leonard has played three Plunket Shield matches for Wellington since moving across the Cook Strait from Nelson, while off-spinner Wiggins, two years younger, has appeared alongside him in Wellington’s A side.

Left-hander McInerney, aged 30, has played 15 times for South Australia, most recently in the State’s final Sheffield Shield match of the season, against Tasmania in Hobart, and has just completed a successful Premier League campaign with his new club, Glenelg, helping them to the grand final.

HCC will also welcome back pace man Ali Ahmad Qasim, who has played for Voorburg for the past four seasons, but who claimed Topklasse 89 wickets for the Lions between 2011 and 2019.

In addition to their three overseas players the Diepput club will be looking to Boris Gorlee and Tonny Staal to show the form which earned them both national team selection, and will also hope to see further progress from youngster Teun Kloppenburg, who demonstrated with three consecutive half-centuries last season that he has the temperament to succeed at the top level and who has the hard-hitting skills to be a force in the T20 format.

Nor should we forget allrounder Hidde Overdijk, who as well as being the spearhead of the pace attack has contributed crucial innings in both formats and has the ability to turn a game very quickly, while younger brother Jan-Wieger may take a further step towards establishing himself as a permanent fixture in the side.

Zimbabwean Patient Charumbira gives valuable support in the pace attack, while the return of Ratha Alphonse to Kampong is likely to mean that we will again see Yash Patel behind the stumps.

Having reached the final of the 50-over competition and the semi-finals of the T20 Cup last year, HCC will be especially keen to pick up some silverware this time, and they certainly have the strength on paper to once again challenge for either or both titles.

T20 Record: 2023 SF | ’22 SF | ’21 GS | ’20 GS | ’19 QF | ’18 SF | ’17 QF | ’16 SF | ’15 SF | ’14 SF