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Bertus de Jong 02/05/2024

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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.

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.

Rod Lyall 17/04/24

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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

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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

Bertus de Jong 16/04/2024

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Just three years on from winning the title, this season’s VRA Amsterdam side are all but unrecognisable. Of the side that lifted the T20 Cup at the end of the summer of 2020, fewer than half are still on VRA’s books, and of those most are unlikely to feature much for the first XI this year.

Netherlands all-rounder Teja Nidamanuru, who takes on the captaincy full-time this season, recognises the challenge of reshaping a side still emerging from the long shadow cast by his predecessor Peter Borren. “For us this season it’s about firmly establishing and our identity and way of playing” he tells TKcricket. Nidamanuru isn’t quite starting with a clean slate, there’s a few survivors from the previous era, not least sometime captain and Netherlands bat Vikram Singh, his opening partner Shirase Rasool, and left arm seamer Ashir Abid, but the trio will be in the minority as the Amsterdam club rings the changes.

A host of new arrivals will replace or displace some familiar faces at the Bos, with Aryan Dutt departing for Hermes, Mitch Lees and Quirijn Gunning retired to Bloemendaal, while club stalwart Leon Turmaine leads a substantial contingent down to strengthen the seconds; Jack Balbirnie, Luke Scully, Debrup Dasgupta and Udit Nashier amongst those slated to spend much of their season turning out for the twos.

In their place come Dutch international spinners Clayton Floyd and Shariz Ahmad, transfering from HCC and VCC respectively, while overseas bat Johan Smal returns alongside new three new in signings Sint Maarten-born keeper-bat Demari Prince, seam all-rounder Elijah Eales and left-arm quick Ben Fletcher. Prince will take over the gloves from Lees and Scully, while Fletcher (also a Dutch passport-holder) will likely open the bowling alongside Abid. Meanwhile Eales, a right-arm seam all-rounder (and son of former Australia rugby captain John Eales) has already demonstrated an ability to hit a very long ball in pre-season.

Despite the strength of the squad on paper, Nidamanuru is not looking at silverware as the first yardstick of success, “we’re of course going to look to put ourselves in a position to play for championships, but the priority is not to put a team together for one season. A lot of these guys are Dutch passport-holders and will be looking to push on to higher honours, so while there’s been a lot of changes we’re hoping to keep this team together for a long time.”

Young prospects: Though the influx of talent will likely keep many of VRA’s youth players out of the side at least as long as they’re at full strength, there’s no shortage of youngsters waiting in the wings. “In the starting squad, Shirase Rasool is one to watch out for this season” says Nidamanuru, “the guys coming up – Ibaad (Zaidi), I like what I’m seeing – he’s got a lot of time when he bats. I don’t understand how he hasn’t played age group. He’ll play for sure if we lose a few players to World Cup duty. Adam Constant will likely be batting three for the seconds, he averaged around forty last year, he’s one that could definitely step up too.”

T20 Record: 2023 GS (5th) | ’22 QF | ’21 QF | ’20 TKC | ’19 QF | ’18 QF | ’17 QF | ’16 QF | ’15 RU | ’14 SF

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Despite their recent success in the longer format, VCC have rarely been more than also-rans (if that) in the T20 competition. The Topklasse 50-over champions have moreover seen something of an exodus over the winter, and despite boasting an admirable depth and youth production line, the Voorburg club does look to be heading into something of a transitional season for 2024.

They will do so under new leadership, with keeper-bat Noah Croes taking over the captaincy from SA Engelbrecht. While the pair’s fellow Netherlands international Logan van Beek remains on the roster, it’s not clear how much the all-rounder will play this summer. Similarly legspinner Flip Boissevain’s availability is likely to be limited as he pursues as career in New Zealand, and Karl Niuewoudt has hung up his boots too.

Brothers Musa and Shariz Ahmad have also departed, the former for Punjab and the latter for VRA, opening further gaps both at the top of the order and in the spin section. Former HBS overseas Gavin Kaplan arrives to fill the former, while long-serving legspin understudy Floris de Lange will be shouldering more responsinbility with the ball, as may former Dutch youth all-rounder Nehaan Gigani.

VCC retain the services of in-form opening bat Michael Levitt as well as seam pair Vivian Kingma and Ryan Klein, though the latter’s fitness is a worry ahead of the season and all three are in contention for national call-ups at the back end of the competition. Rangy right-armer Mees van Vliet may well feature more prominently for the first team to cover, and indeed there’s more than a few young players who will likely get the chance to cement a a spot in the senior side this season.

“We’re quietly confident,” Croes says, “we’ve still got the core and a really good squad, with the experience of some of our Dutch guys over the last months out in South African and Nepal we’ve got a lot of good players in form, and Ryan Klein back from injury is a big bonus. It’s a good mix of younsters and senior guys, we’ll be in amongst iot for sure and hopefully holding some more silverware at the end of the T20 season.”

Young prospects: As a reliable supplier of talent to both the Netherlands age-group and senior teams, VCC are almost spoilt for choice in terms of young talent to fill the gaps that have opened in the senior side. Of the de Leede clan, Tom and perhaps Stijn look set to make the step up to the senior side, while Alejo Nota is also pushing for a spot.

Opening bat Cedric de Lange has already appeared for the firsts on more than a few occasions, and joining him back at Voorburg this season will be his Dutch under 19s team-mate Michael Molenaar, returning to the old country from South Africa, who Croes also tips to impress. “For us a a club it’s great to see the youngrsters coming up through the ranks; Molenaar, de Leede, de Lange, Nota are all really exctiting prospects for us as a club and I think you’ll be seeing those names over the course of the season, which is really exciting for Dutch cricket.”

T20 Record: 2023 GS (6th) | ’22 QF | ’21 GS | ’20 SF | ’19 QF | ’18 ⅛F | ’17 GS | ’16 N/A | ’15 GS | ’14 GS

Rod Lyall 17/11/23

The Topklasse will be the poorer for the loss of national team captain Scott Edwards and opener Max O’Dowd following the announcement from Hoofdklasse club Kampong Utrecht that the pair, along with Spanish national coach Corey Rutgers will be leaving VOC Rotterdam and playing at Maarschalkerweerd.

Edwards made 509 runs for the Bloodhounds last season at an average of 50.90, while O’Dowd contributed 482 at 43.82, 186 of them in one brutal early-season innings against ACC.

In all, O’Dowd has made 3455 runs in 90 matches for VOC at an average of 45.46, including seven centuries, and Edwards 2671 at 46.86 in 76 games, with three hundreds.

They will leave a significant gap in the Rotterdammers’ top order, which it will not be easy to fill; even with them in the side the batting has tended to show signs of brittleness under pressure, and the side finished sixth in last season’s championship play-off.

For Kampong, on the other hand, the arrival of the two international stars will seriously strengthen their challenge for promotion to the Topklasse in 2025.

They were widely seen as somewhat unfortunate to be relegated from the twelve-team Topklasse in 2022, and they finished a creditable fourth in the Hoofklasse last season.

Edwards and O’Dowd will join national A-squad players Alex Roy and Pierre Jacod and under-18 seamer Gert Swanepoel at Maarschalkerweerd, and while they will miss parts of what promises to be another busy season because of their national team commitments, they are likely to cause plenty of headaches for opposing attacks in the matches they do play.

In statements on the Kampong website all three players stress the family-friendly atmosphere, the facilities and the ambitions of the Utrecht club, which (like VOC) boasts a turf square and hosts matches of the national men’s and women’s teams.

Rod Lyall 01/09/23

If the semi-final between Hermes-DVS and Quick Haag fortnight ago is any guide, then the Hoofdklasse grand final at Sportpark Harga on Saturday, which will determine which of the two sides returns to the Topklasse next season, should be a cracker.

Then it took a Nick Statham boundary off the final ball of the match to decide the outcome, Hermes winning by one wicket, and across the two formats the teams have been evenly matched all season, Hermes having won three of their five head-to-head meetings and Quick two.

Hermes have already secured a place in next year’s Topklasse T20 Cup, having beaten their rivals fairly comfortably in the final, and will be out to make it a double on Saturday.

Leading the charge will be two of their three overseas players: 19-year-old South African Ashley Ostling, the side’s leading run-scorer with 567 at an average of 43.62, and Spanish international Daniel Doyle Calle; New Zealander Will Hamilton is injured and will take no part.

But Quick’s attack will still need to contain Ostling and Doyle effectively if they are to have a realistic chance of taking the title and earning promotion.

Quick, though, have two outstanding overseas players of their own, not least Otago’s left-handed opener Cameron Jackson, whose 164-ball 223 last week snuffed out Kampong Utrecht’s hopes of making it to the grand final.

Jackson leads the Hoofdklasse batting aggregates with 890 runs at 68.46, closely followed by team-mate Beckham Wheeler Greenall with 768 at 69.82.

If the Hermes trio are crucial to their side’s chances, Jackson and Wheeler Greenall are scarcely less so for Quick, and early wickets will be vital in both innings.

One somewhat disturbing feature of the match is how little Dutch-produced young talent will be on display: of Hermes’ likely squad six were in the club’s side in or before their most recent appearance in the Topklasse in 2017, while in Quick’s case eight had played before their relegation in 2019.

The Father of the Hermes team is 48-year-old Statham, who made his top-flight debut in 1989 and who has notched up 11,175 runs in his 482 matches, while his opposite number at Quick is fellow former international Henk Mol, two years younger, with 7352 runs and 413 wickets in 365 games.

Mol is still taking wickets, his tally of 20 this season just one behind that of Quick’s leading wicket-taker Jeroen Brand, but the top wicket-taker in the competition is Hermes’ Sahil Kothari with 29.

With Dutch A-team captain Sebastiaan Braat – who also skippers the side – and brothers Olivier and Ralph Elenbaas in the attack, backed up by Roy Numair and Davey Verweij, Hermes probably have the more incisive bowling unit.

As against that, alongside Jackson and Wheeler Greenall Quick’s batting line-up includes skipper Daan Vierling, Lesley Stokkers, Bobby van Gigch, allrounder Brand and perhaps Henk Mol’s brother Geert Maarten, totalling close to a thousand top-flight matches between them, so there will be no lack of experience on either side.

Having taken the Hoofdklasse title last year, when there was no promotion to the Topklasse, Hermes have a point to prove, while Quick’s demolition of Kampong last week indicates that the Schiedammers are unlikely to have things all their own way.

Rod Lyall 27/08/23

Those who came to Westvliet on Saturday anticipating a close finish or a repeat of last year’s upset HCC victory went away disappointed, but there was no doubt about the home club’s elation as Voorburg simply steamrollered their way to their first championship win in twenty-one years, and the second in their history.

There was, though, no shortage of skill on display, not least from the ground staff, who after heavy rain in the early morning worked like Trojans to get the ground ready for an 11 o’clock start.

There were, it is true, a few moments in the opening overs when the defending champions could have thought that Voorburg skipper’s Sybrand Engelbrecht’s decision to bat first might misfire.

Hidde Overdijk bowled Nehaan Gigani in the third over, his 200th Topklasse wicket, and with the pitch showing early signs of vertical inconsistency as well as lateral movement, Michael Levitt and Musa Ahmad were beaten several times, Levitt at one point, immediately after unleashing a back-foot cover drive off Overdijk which probably remained the shot of the day, hazardously edging the bowler between keeper and first slip.

But the batters gradually took control, their partnership steadily mounting, and it would be the 38th over before HCC succeeded in breaking through again, by which time Levitt and Musa had put on 183 and the former had reached his fourth century of the season.

It was Musa who was the first to go, cutting at Patient Charumbira and well caught by Clayton Floyd at point, who knocked the ball upwards and took it at the second attempt; Musa had made 78 from 106 deliveries and hit six fours and a six.

The six had come off Daniel Doram, a potential match-winner for HCC, and that blow and the four which followed next ball had forced skipper Boris Gorlee to pull the tall left-arm spinner out of the attack.

He returned as soon as Musa had gone, however, and with the first ball of the next over bowled Levitt for a 119-ball 102, which had included twelve fours and a six.

Two wickets in seven balls must have given the Lions some hope, but it was quickly snuffed out by Engelbrecht, who contributed a 10-ball cameo of 20 before he was trapped in front by Doram, and by Noah Croes, whose 36 ensured that the total kept motoring towards 300.

Although he was eventually caught by Charumbira off Overdijk, 50 runs came from the last five overs, Ryan Klein adding 24 of them before skying a return catch to Overdijk, and the innings closed on a very imposing 295 for seven.

Overdijk’s three wickets had come at a cost of 78, while Doram picked up two for 49, Henrico Venter was the most economical of the HCC attack, his eight wicketless overs costing just 30 runs.

It was a demanding chase against a Voorburg bowling unit which included four internationals, and Viv Kingma and Karl Nieuwoudt gave little away in their opening exchanges with Jonathan Vandiar and Tonny Staal.

The decisive moment came when Vandiar, who had just creamed Kingma for four through extra cover in his first real sign of aggression, clipped the next delivery hard to short midwicket, where Engelbrecht took a superb low catch.

Staal and Ratha Alphonse added 34 before Klein bowled Alphonse, and in his next over the paceman removed the other main threat, Staal pulling him down the throat of Musa on the midwicket boundary and departing for 36.

That pretty much pricked HCC’s balloon, and when Shariz Ahmad came into the attack and almost immediately bowled Teun Kloppenburg, Voorburg were well on their way to a comprehensive victory.

Gorlee, assisted by Clayton Floyd, continued to resist, but with boundary opportunities few and far between the asking rate began its inexorable rise, and soon HCC were needing in excess of eight an over to have any chance of turning the game around.

Eventually Kingma returned to bowl Floyd, but it was left to Klein, bowling full, fast and straight, to finish things off, dismissing Gorlee and Charumbira with successive deliveries and then, after a brief flourish by Overdijk which ended when he was well stumped by Croes off Shariz, repeated the trick by bowling first Crowley and then Venter, to end the innings on 155.

Klein finished with a career-best six for 15, while Shariz’s two for 24 brought his tally for the season to a remarkable 47 wickets at an even more remarkable average of 10.66.

As if this were not enough, Voorburg’s women’s team, after being bowled out for 87, dismissed Quick Haag for 75, Dutch international Eva Lynch taking five for 9, making Voorburg the first club since Kampong Utrecht in 1992 to win both the men’s and women’s titles in the same year.

Rod Lyall 25/08/23

Back at the start of the season, much of the talk was about the formidable squad which Voorburg had assembled, and with just one defeat in 14 50-over matches last year’s beaten grand finalists have fully lived up to that billing.

For defending champions HCC, however, 2023 seemed likely to be a season of rebuilding, with half of their side from last year unavailable, and it is remarkable that after a shaky start to their campaign they have again reached the grand final, peaking at just the right time and giving themselves a real chance of winning the title from fourth position on the table.

The Lions have momentum on their side, but any grand final comes down to how the two sides perform on the day; how, then, do the squads stack up against one another?

The Voorburg pace attack against the HCC top order

With current internationals Viv Kingma and Ryan Klein, backed up by the up-and-coming Mees van Vliet and the steady medium pace of Karl Nieuwoudt – who often shares the new ball with Kingma – Voorburg have plenty of quicker options, none of the four having gone for more than five an over across the whole campaign.

Kingma may only have nine wickets so far, but he has the best strike rate of anyone in the side, and he has a proven ability to dismiss good batters inside the initial powerplay.

For HCC, the arrival of Ratha Alphonse has been a real bonus, his 386 runs at 32.17 having compensated to a considerable degree for the fact that Tonny Staal has had a relatively quiet season by his standards, averaging just 15.94.

In Alphonse’s absence in the play-off phase, however, the Lions have experimented with Jonathan Vandiar as an opening partner for Staal, Alphonse slotting in at three, and it will be interesting to see who opens on Saturday.

Vandiar’s innings against Punjab in the qualifying final was a model of restraint, but there is an argument that he is at his most effective at four or five, when his attacking instincts can be given full reign.

The top five is completed by captain Boris Gorlee and by sixteen-year-old Teun Kloppenburg, the latter having strung together three consecutive half-centuries in his first Topklasse season; if Vandiar does drop down the order, he and Kloppenburg have the potential to capitalise on any platform that Alphonse, Staal and Gorlee have been able to build.

The HCC pace attack against the Voorburg top order

Hidde Overdijk and Daniel Crowley have been in awesome form in their most recent games, reducing Sparta to 25 for four in the initial powerplay and putting Punjab under sustained pressure in the qualifier, and Overdijk’s 29 wickets at 20.07 puts him in equal third place among the leading wicket-takers.

There are, perhaps, more questions about the change bowling, with Henrico Venter and Patient Charumbira among the more expensive of the regular seam bowlers, although both have also been able to pick up valuable wickets; they have, though, been deployed later in the innings than Klein and Van Vliet have for Voorburg.

With a top five who all average 30 (or in Musa Ahmad’s case, just a tad short of it), Voorburg have a formidable line-up, but on closer inspection those stats are a little less encouraging: having made 456 runs at 57 in the first phase, Michael Levitt has added only 97 at 16.17 since the competition resumed and Noah Croes, too, has been less dominant in the back end.

Against that, Musa has made more runs in six innings since the break than he did in nine before it, and the transformation in skipper Sybrand Engelbrecht’s form has been even more dramatic: only Tayo Walbrugh made more runs in July and August than Engelbrecht’s 333.

All in all, then, the ability of Overdijk and Crowley to make early inroads into that imposing Voorburg top order may be one of the factors on which this year’s title depends.

Voorburg’s spinners against the HCC middle order

The most interesting battles of the day, however, may come when Engelbrecht and Gorlee turn to their slower bowlers.

With 45 wickets so far, Shariz Ahmad just needs what would be his fifth five-for of the season to become the first player since Chris Pringle in 1996 to take fifty wickets in a season, and it would come as little surprise if he did it; few batters have been able to get on top of him all year.

While his fellow wrist-spinner Philippe Boissevain has had a more modest return with 17 wickets at 21.59, he makes an outstanding foil for the young googly bowler, and they can be expected to cause plenty of problems in the middle overs.

Who’s at the crease when they come on will depend, of course, on how successful Voorburg’s quicker bowlers have been, and there could be a fascinating contest between their wiles and the aggression of Vandiar and Kloppenburg.

Beyond that, the HCC middle order of Clayton Floyd, Overdijk and Charumbira will need all their wits about them if they are to make a significant contribution to their side’s total.

HCC’s spinners against the Voorburg middle order

As against Voorburg’s wrist spinners, the Lions have two left-arm finger spinners, of whom late signing Daniel Doram has been distinctly the more effective with 27 wickets at 15.04 apiece.

His figures in the last two games of 10 – 6 – 4 – 1 and 9.2 – 2 – 14 – 4 were truly remarkable, and if he can manage something of the same order on Saturday it could be a game-changer.

Floyd has had a less successful campaign, but like Boissevain he provides outstanding support for Doram when the two are bowling in tandem, and his reliability means that Gorlee can use seamers Venter and Charumbira more sparingly.

Their battle with the Voorburg middle order, again, will be a key feature of the game, and of the later batters only Shariz, with 261 runs, has a comparable record to that of Floyd, Overdijk and Charumbira, although it must be said that the dominance of the top five has given them relatively few opportunities.

It’s all shaping up for a memorable contest, one that is, as election-night commentators say, too close to call. All this, and a chance to see the World Cup trophy as well!

Rod Lyall 21/08/23

Defending champions HCC eased their way into next Saturday’s Topklasse grand final on Sunday with a 104-run victory over Punjab Rotterdam at Het Zomercomplex, setting up a repeat of last year’s final encounter with ‘minor premiers’ Voorburg.

If their start, having put in by Sulaiman Tariq, was not entirely convincing, Tonny Staal, Ratha Alphonse and Boris Gorlee all back in the dug-out by the time 69 runs were on the board, the Lions were well served by Jonathan Vandiar, who responded to his opening role with an uncharacteristically restrained 65.

Vandiar did hit three sixes and four fours in his 102-ball innings, but he combined these moments of aggression when opportunity offered with periods of long watchfulness, and it was his knock which paved the way for HCC’s eventual total of 244.

Teun Kloppenburg chipped in with a breezy 30-ball 36 which included four sixes, and then Hidde Overdijk (34) and Patient Charumbira (31) combined to ensure that their side gave Punjab, who had collapsed against Voorburg on Saturday, a significant total to chase.

Spinners Muhammad Shafiq and Saqib Zulfiqar had done the early damage for Punjab, but it was Sohail Bhatti, although he was rather expensive, who was the most successful of the home side’s bowlers with four for 64, including the vital wicket of Vandiar.

The Rotterdammers had brought in Steph Myburgh to play his first game of the season, compensating for the loss of Shoaib Minhas, and he showed glimpses of his old touch as the chase began.

Overdijk and Daniel Crowley, however, bowled with greater effect than Punjab’s pace attack had been able to manage, and Henrico Venter claimed the wicket of Saqib Zulfiqar just when it seemed that the innings might gain some momentum.

Thereafter it was the left-arm spinners, Clayton Floyd and Daniel Doram, who called the tune: Sikander Zulfiqar laboured for a solid 42, but he received little support, and with Doram taking four for 14 in another outstanding spell and Crowley returning to finish with four for 40 Punjab were all out for a disappointing 140.

VRA Amsterdam and Excelsior ’20 Schiedam completed their campaigns with home victories over HBS Craeyenhout and relegated Salland, but with all the issues in the lower part of the table already settled these games had an end-of-term feel about them.

Interest in the Amsterdamse Bos centred on whether Tayo Walbrugh, who has enjoyed another outstanding season, could get the 20 he needed to achieve 1000 runs in the 50-over competition, but he fell just short, making 8 before he was caught off the bowling of Udit Nashier.

Skipper Wesley Barresi’s 62 was the highlight of an HBS total of 169, Tyler van Luin the most successful of the VRA bowlers with three for 20, and then Van Luin and Shirase Rasool knocked off the runs in double-quick time, VRA winning by ten wickets with half their overs to spare.

Rasool ended on 81 not out and Van Luin on 82, and VRA had gone undefeated through their six-match programme in the Relegation pool.

Excelsior were given a great start by Luuk Kroesen (56) and Michael Hart (48), who put on their side’s best opening stand of the season with 107, and then former captain and Dutch international Tom Heggelman, playing his last game for the side, held the middle order together with 46 as they reached 253 for seven.

Salland put up a strong fight in response, Fraser Bartholomew making 44 in his unaccustomed opening role and Sahir Naqash contributing a run-a-ball 55, but there were four golden ducks in the innings, and although Gijs van der Molen made 28 and Victor Lubbers, batting at nine, made an undefeated 23, their efforts were not enough, and the side were all out for 205, 48 runs short.