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Rod Lyall & Bertus de Jong 11/08/23

After a disappointingly wet weekend that saw just one match completed in Round 13, the back end of the Topklasse schedule has been thrown into a degree of disarray. Voorburg’s win over Punjab served only to tie a bow on their already-assured spot at the top of the table, and the rest of the matches will be replayed over the next couple of weekends. VOC vs HCC and Sparta vs ACC are both pencilled in for Saturday the 12th, and the remaining two matches a week later. For our thoughts on those games we refer you to our previous preview, but a full slate of round 14 matches are also coming up this weekend, with Salland taking on VRA in a must-win match at Amsterdamse Bos, and the rest of the round scheduled for Sunday.

BdJ: Defeat for Salland at VRA could all-but seal their fate, already trailing Excelsior and HBS by two wins and at a substantial net run rate disadvantage. The hosts will again be without Aaditt Jain and Udit Nashier, both still on under 19s duty, but remain heavy favourites even against a full-strength Salland side. The Amsterdammers looked well on top against Excelsior last week before the rain put a stop the the game, while Tim Drummond had Salland chasing leather. VRA are already well safe of course, while Salland realistically need three wins to have a hope of staying up. Whether motivation can trump momentum thus looks the key question on Saturday, but history favours the latter.

RL: The task for Salland remains daunting, and there’s little sign that the return of their German contingent will bring about a change in their fortunes. For VRA, on the other hand, the presence of Singh, Rasool and Co. in the top order offers the prospect of plenty of runs, while even without Nashier and Jain the attack has both variety and incisiveness. Salland escaped by the skin of their teeth from relegation in the T20 Cup; it would be a huge surprise were they to repeat the trick in the 50-over competition, and Saturday in the Bos might well seal their fate.

BdJ: The weekend’s other relegation pool fixture effectively sees HBS: and Excelsior: competing for safety, with the winner assured of top-flight survival. Despite a less than successful season the hosts will start as favourites at Craeyenhout, Tim Drummond’s maiden century last week adding another name to the now-complete list of centurions in the HBS top five. The bowling remains a worry, but given the form of Excelsior’s top-order probably not one that’s keeping the Crows up at night. The Schiedammers’ reliance on Lorenzo Ingram and Michael Hart for runs has been particularly pronounced this season, and were it not for Salland’s woes they might well have been headed for the Hoofdklasse.

RL: The HBS attack has looked more convincing with the return, at least on a part-time basis, of the Fabulous Vink Brothers, and although Tobias Visée’s occasional appearances have so far been limited to cameos at best, his role has to some extent been taken over by Reece Mason. With Drummond now established in the top order and Nic Adendorff ditto as a useful all-rounder HBS look a more solid outfit, and they will trouble an Excelsior side which, although the squad list has changed relatively little, has been well short of their form of recent seasons. Ingram leads the wicket-takers and well as the run-scorers by a country mile, and if HBS can neutralise his threat they should make sure of the points they need to guarantee survival.

BdJ: At the other end of the table Voorburg have already secured the top spot, but will be keen to maintain their winning streak when they head to Bermweg to take on Sparta 1888. The hosts will be gunning to join VCC in the preliminary final, and currently third behind Punjab but with a game in hand the Spartans are well-placed to bag that double-shot at the final. Having bowled ACC out for 128 last week before the rain came the bowling looks to be on-song, and Voorburg may be without Ryan Klein, who is nursing a bruised foot, but Vivian Kingma will be back from coaching duties and there’s a fair few in the VCC ranks, not least their newly-eligible skipper, who will be looking to bolster their case for inclusion in the World Cup travelling party.

RL: Sparta were the unluckiest team last weekend, well on their way to victory over ACC when the rain brought a premature end, and the way in which they fought back after an indifferent start suggested that they will maintain their challenge for a semi-final place to the bitter end. They do miss Ahsan Malik with the new ball, but their workmanlike attack, especially when Mudassar Bukhari is at anything like his best, is capable of causing most sides problems. Whether that includes Voorburg’s star-studded line-up remains doubtful, however, and it would be one of the bigger surprises of the season were they to take the points back to Capelle.

BdJ: Also jostling for position at the top end are ACC: and HCC:, who meet at ‘t Loopveld on Saturday. On paper HCC should be favourites, but they were on the ropes against VOC last week before the rain came. The top order’s form has been shaky at best, while the season’s stand-out Hidde Overdijk may be in doubt for the weekend. The all-rounder looked rather under the weather at the pro-series game at VRA on Thursday, managing just two balls before heading to the latrines – suspicion falling on a dodgy plate of ribs the night before. ACC skipper Heino Kuhn is also understood to be planning to hit 200 runs this weekend, though it’s not clear how he plans to divide them between the two matches.

RL: Reaching the top six, surprising as it was, seems likely to prove the height of ACC’s achievements this season, and with their title at stake last year’s champions will have every reason to turn it on in Amstelveen and make almost sure of a semi-final place. Doubts about Overdijk and last week’s batting collapse notwithstanding, HCC look a much more complete side than their hosts, and the lurking threat of Jonathan Vandiar is always there. The head-to-head between the two South Africans will be an extremely interesting aspect of this encounter, but with Teun Kloppenburg back from Under-19 duty the Lions’ batting overall looks a good deal stronger than ACC’s, and the attack also has greater edge.

BdJ: Finally VOC take on Punjab at Hazelaarweg, in what could well prove a crucial match-up in the context of play-off positioning. The hosts are likely to welcome back Edwards and O’Dowd, but may not be at full strength across a double weekend. Punjab meanwhile have been without Riaz and Minhas for the back end of the season, though with a full complement of Zulfiqars and the benefit of a single game to focus on this weekend they remain entirely in contention for both the win and a top two spot if other results fall their way. VOC have the benefit of a substantial net run rate advantage over the field, but whether the T20 champions have the hunger to chase the double is another question.

RL: The loss of Minhas and Riaz has hurt Punjab, and they will not only need the Zulfiqars to be at their best with both bat and ball but will be looking to the Yasir Usmans and Mubashar Hussains to chip in as well if they are to upset a VOC side who, along with HCC, look to be the strongest candidates to get between Voorburg and their seemingly-inevitable title. The return of O’Dowd would be a huge boost for the Bloodhounds, who looked very sharp indeed in cutting through HCC’s top order last week and who will hope that Lane Berry can play some imposing innings as the season reaches its business end.

BdJ’s picks: VRA, HBS, Voorburg, HCC, VOC
RL: VRA, HBS, Voorburg, HCC, VOC.

Rod Lyall 06/08/23

On a weekend dominated by poor weather, Punjab Rotterdam’s prospects of making the final four took a hit at Het Zomercomplex on Saturday, when they lost a rain-affected match to leaders Voorburg by 40 runs.

After electing to bat Voorburg lost both openers early to the combination of seamer Mubashar Hussain and fielder Mohammad Shafiq, but they were rescued by a captain’s innings from Sybrand Engelbrecht, who made an unbeaten 112 and steered them to a respectable 249 for nine.

He received useful support from Noah Croes (33) and the brothers Boissevain, Laurens making 31 and Philippe 19; Sohail Bhatti was the most successful of the Punjab bowlers with three for 41.

The Punjab response was delayed by rain, so they started chasing a revised target of 231 from 42 overs, and by the time another shower held up proceedings again they had already lost openers Asif Khan and Yasir Usman.

The task was now to make 212 in 35 overs, but Voorburg’s bowlers steadily worked their way through the middle order, and at 103 for seven the home side’s challenge appeared to have faded, despite Shafiq’s 30 and 33 from Sikander Zulfiqar.

Bhatti smacked a defiant 34-ball 52, including six sixes, but when he became Shariz Ahmad’s fourth victim, bringing the leg-spinner’s tally for the season to 38, the innings ended on 171.

No result was possible in the Amsterdamse Bos, where Excelsior ‘20 had battled their way to 167 for eight in 43 overs against VRA Amsterdam before the rain ended the action for the day.

Michael Hart had led the way with 77, a season’s best effort with the bat, but he eventually fell to Aryan Dutt, the most successful of VRA’s bowlers with three for 22.

And the news was even worse on Sunday, when all three Topklasse matches – along with most of the rest of the programme – fell victim to persistent rain.

The greatest frustration was perhaps at the Bermweg, where Sparta 1888 had bowled themselves into a winning position against ACC, only to see their hopes dissolved as the rain set in.

A solid third-wicket stand of 75 between Shreyas Potdar (41) and Thomas Hobson (34) had taken the Amsterdammers to 98 for two, but once Faizan Bashir had removed Hobson the innings fell apart, the last eight wickets falling for 30 runs and the last five for just five.

Bashir finished with three for 23 and Joost-Martijn Snoep three for 21, and Sam Ferguson and Gagandeep Singh had negotiated their side to 19 without loss before the weather intervened.

Every effort was made to get the sides back onto the field, but in the end Pluvius had the last word.

The rain did not reach Deventer until later in the afternoon, by which time HBS Craeyenhout had posted 239 for six against the <bSalland attack and opener Tim Drummond had made his first Topklasse century, a 135-ball 123.

He shared a second-wicket stand of 110 with Tayo Walbrugh, whose 56 took him past 800 runs for the season – or brought him to 1139 if we include the T20 Cup.

But no further play was possible, and with Salland still having a mathematical chance of avoiding relegation the teams will have to try again next weekend to reach a result.

Another side with a legitimate grievance against the weather gods were VOC Rotterdam, who had reduced HCC to 36 for five in a match already cut to 37 overs before the players were driven from the field.

Arnav Jain and Burhan Niaz picked up two wickets apiece, while only Boris Gorlee with 21 was able to reach double figures with the bat.