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Rod Lyall 10/07/2023

Double victories for Excelsior ‘20 and VOC Rotterdam on Saturday ensured that both sides reached the finals day of the T20 Cup on 15 July, although they had to wait until Sunday, and the match between HCC and Punjab, to learn exactly where on the table they would finish.

VOC began their weekend at the Hazelaarweg with a 26-run victory over Punjab, who were dismissed for 119 as they chased a total of 145 for nine, Asief Hoseinbaks taking three for 24 and Jelte Schoonheim three for 18.

Schoonheim’s 19-ball 26 had earlier been a significant contribution to his side’s score, along with top-scorer Burhan Niaz’s 36, while Sikander Zulfiqar’s 38-ball 50 received insufficient support from the rest of the side.

Schoonheim claimed two more wickets when VOC took on VRA Amsterdam in their second game, crucially breaking a third-wicket partnership of 113 between Tyler van Luin and Johan Smal, the latter caught by Tim de Kok for 48.

Van Luin stayed to the end, making an undefeated 80 in VRA’s total of 161 for five.

Francois Fourie and Peter Recordon gave VOC’s reply a great start with an opening stand of 83, and after they had both been dismissed and Lane Berry had joined them in the dug-out, Niaz and Arnav Jain knocked off the remaining runs to give VOC the win with five deliveries to spare.

Whether these two victories would be sufficient to propel the Cup holders into the semi-finals still hinged on the outcome VRA’s match against HCC, since a win for the Amsterdammers would bring them level with VOC and with a superior net run rate.

But after restricting HCC to 145 for seven, Teun Kloppenburg top-scoring with 40, VRA suffered an early collapse, Shirase Rasool, Luke Scully and Van Luin all falling by the time seven runs were on the board, and although Smal again battled hard with a 30-ball 51, at 81 for six it looked as if VRA’s challenge was over.

Mitch Lees fought a rearguard action with a defiant 38, supported by Leon Turmaine, but 16 were needed from Daniel Crowley’s final over, and with both Lees and Turmaine run out only one run was added to the score, and HCC won by 14 runs.

At Thurlede, meanwhile, Excelsior’s matches would not only determine whether they would take part in the finals day, but also who would be relegated to next year’s Hoofdklasse T20 Cup.

On Friday evening HBS Craeyenhout had lost by 42 runs to Sparta 1888, which meant that they could still be overtaken by ACC, Excelsior’s first opponents, and also that they could drop below both Salland and ACC if they suffered too heavy a defeat at the hands of Excelsior in the second match at Thurlede.

Sparta’s total of 203 for five was built of the contributions of their three overseas players, Garnett Tarr making 49, Sam Ferguson 47 and Will Clark 55, and although Tayo Walbrugh made a gallant 86 for HBS it could get them no closer than 161 for seven in reply.

So everything depended on ACC and HBS’s results against Excelsior, and ACC’s hopes were raised by a disciplined performance in the field, which restricted the Schiedammers to 107 for nine; Devanshu Arya’s four overs conceded only 14 runs, and Mahesh Hans claimed two for 4 in two overs, including the wicket of top-scorer Stan van Troost (21).

But two wickets for Jens Blankestijn and a run-out soon reduced ACC to 7 for three, and although Thomas Hobson (23) and Anis Raza (32) battled hard, Arya and Ammar Zaidi were left needing 16 from Niels Etman’s final over.

Ten came from the first four deliveries, including a six by Zaidi, but then he was run out off the fifth, and Excelsior squeezed home by 4 runs.

ACC’s survival now depended upon HBS’s effort against Excelsior, and when the home side posted a substantial 155 for two, Roel Verhagen making an unbeaten 69, and HBS slipped to 14 for three inside four overs, there seemed a possibility that they would fail to reach the 66 they needed to stay ahead of the Amsterdammers on NRR.

At this point Walbrugh and Nic Adendorff appeared to abandon the chase, contenting themselves with reaching that intermediate target, and they needed only another 13 when Adendorff was run out attempting an unnecessary second run.

Ferdi Vink, however, helped Walbrugh achieve safety for his side, and the innings closed on 79 for five, enough to keep HBS up and send ACC down.

Net run rate was also significant when HCC played host to Punjab on Sunday in the final round robin match: having contained the Lions to 120 for nine, Punjab needed to reach their target in 16 overs to better their hosts’ NRR and move into top slot.

They began promisingly, Shoaib Minhas making a 29-ball 41 not out despite the loss of two early wickets, but rain intervened after 8.2 overs with Punjab on 54 for two.

They were ahead by 8 runs on DLS and therefore took the points, but the difference was insufficient to take them ahead of their rivals on NRR.

Next Saturday’s first semi-final will therefore pit HCC against fourth-placed VOC, while Punjab will take on Excelsior in the second.

Rod Lyall 07/07/2023

We’re in for a tense and potentially exciting weekend of cricket as the Topklasse T20 Cup reaches the end of the round robin phase, with seven of the ten clubs battling either for a spot on the finals day or to avoid relegation.

The battle begins on Friday evening, when HBS Craeyenhout will be at home to Sparta 1888 in the first of three games which will decide who will be playing their T20 cricket in the Hoofdklasse next season.

Sparta are safe, but with two games to play HBS will want to get clear of the relegation zone as quickly as possible, and they will achieve that if they win this one on their own astroturf.

Nic Adendorff has emerged as a key allrounder in the Crows’ line-up, and with him and Reece Mason in the top order they have some insurance against the rare occurrence of Tayo Walbrugh going cheaply.

Their main problems, however, have been in the bowling, which looks a lot more solid when Ferdi and/or Stephan Vink and/or Navjit Singh are in the side to bolster the youthful talents of Elmar Boendermaker and Yoran Visée.

With only pride to play for Sparta will be something of an unknown quantity in this game, but their hard-fought victory over VRA last Saturday, built on a fine spell from Mudassar Bukhari, suggests that they may want to end on a high, and that can only be good for the competition.

The relegation issue, however, will mostly be dependent on the match between Excelsior ‘20 and ACC at Thurlede on Saturday, where defeat for ACC would definitively seal their fate and ensure a reprieve for Salland, whose victory over the Amsterdammers last Sunday has given them a crucial edge.

Excelsior are still in with an outside chance of making the semi-finals provided they win both their remaining matches, so Roel Verhagen’s men have every incentive to make sure of the points against ACC, and then against HBS when they take them on in the second leg of a double-header.

Fielding a somewhat scratch side on Sunday, ACC were never really in the contest, and they will need to call on all their resources if they are to have a realistic chance in this do-or-go-down battle.

Should Excelsior win they will move ahead of Voorburg on net run rate, and having completed their programme Voorburg will only be able to watch anxiously as events unfold at Thurlede and elsewhere.

Even victories over both ACC and HBS, however, would not guarantee Excelsior a place in the top four, since they have VOC Rotterdam breathing down their necks, also with two games to play.

But whereas Excelsior face two of the lower-placed teams, VOC have to take on Punjab Rotterdam and <b<VRA Amsterdam, both of whom are currently above them on the table and need at least one more win to make sure of a finals day spot.

Punjab have been one of the most consistent sides in this competition, and they might already have been secure in the top four had their match against Sparta last Saturday not been rained off.

Shoaib Minhas has been a tower of strength at the top of the batting order, and with a trio of Zulfiqars in the middle order and the guile of Mohammad Shafiq with the ball, they have fully deserved their place near the top of the table.

Cup holders VOC, on the other hand, have blown hot and cold, although their campaign has not been helped by the loss of two matches to the weather.

Lane Berry remains key with the bat, but he has not been able to reproduce in the T20 format his form in the 50-over game, and they will need significant contributions from him – and from the rest of the top order – if they are to pull off the two wins they need to give themselves any chance of reaching the finals day.

For VRA, who need to bounce back quickly from that defeat at Sparta last week, the VOC encounter is the first leg of a Hazelaarweg double-header, the second a nominally home game against leaders HCC.

With a very favourable net run rate, a win against either VOC or HCC should be enough to see VRA into the semi-finals, but the leading sides are also jostling for a favourable draw on the finals day; not only does the team at the top of the table meet the fourth-placed side – not, perhaps, a huge advantage given the vagaries of T20 cricket – but playing in the first semi-final gives the winners more recovery time before the final.

There will be every incentive, then, for both sides to gain a crucial advantage over their rivals, and the same will apply to the weekend’s final match, between HCC and Punjab at De Diepput on Sunday.

These two sides have thoroughly deserved their places at the top of the table, and in Daniel Doram, whose economy rate in this competition is a remarkable 3.78 an over, they have a potential match-winner who will test the hitting power of Punjab’s batters.

A brace of wins for either HCC or Punjab would guarantee them the top spot going into the finals day, so this match will have something of the final avant la lettre about it.

It’s hard to imagine a better climax to what has been a fascinating new competition set-up.

My picks for the weekend: HBS; Punjab, Excelsior, VOC, HBS, HCC; Punjab.

Rod Lyall 03/07/2023

The relegation battle in the T20 Cup heated up considerably in Deventer on Sunday, when Salland gave themselves a real chance of staying up by beating ACC by 60 runs and changing places with them at the foot of the table.

ACC will now need to beat Excelsior ’20 in next weekend’s final round in order to avoid relegation, and with the Schiedammers fighting for a place on the finals day that will be no straightforward task.

The day had begun less promisingly for Salland, who lost a low-scoring game against HBS Craeyenhout by 13 runs after restricting their opponents to 109 for seven.

Reinder Lubbers struck an early blow for the home side by getting danger man Tayo Walbrugh caught at slip off the fourth ball of the match, and went on to complete an outstanding spell with figures of 4 – 2 – 7 – 3.

Manjinder Singh hit a lusty 10-ball 25 before becoming the second of his victims, but it was Nic Adendorff’s steady 47 which gave HBS a total they had some prospect of defending in the bowler-friendly conditions.

Julian de Mey maintained great pressure on Salland’s batters with a spell which gave him figures as remarkable as Lubbers’s, 4 – 1 – 5 – 2; and at 43 for five the home side were in serious jeopardy.

They were rescued by a stand of 50 between skipper Victor Lubbers and his elder brother Reinder, but once that had been broken by an outstanding piece of fielding by De Mey to run out Victor as they attempted a third run, the ask became too great for the remaining batters, and the innings closed on 96 for nine.

It soon appeared that the ground staff might have dropped in an entirely different pitch during the break as Salland, after winning the toss, ran up their highest total of the competition, their 174 for five built on a second-wicket stand of 100 between Talha Ahmed Khan (37) and Ganesan (62).

Sahir Naqash then contributed a 21-ball 43, inclduing four fours and two sixes, to ensure that ACC faced a very significant target.

They began briskly enough, reaching 76 for one in the ninth over, but once Akhil Gopinath had removed Shreyas Potdar, stumped by Rahil Ahmed, and Elam Bharathi had bowled Thomas Hobson for a fine 27-ball 46, the innings started to sag.

Gopinath claimed three more wickets to finish with four for 29, and there were two apiece for Reinder Lubbers and Bharathi as ACC were dismissed for a disappointing 114.

It was the Amsterdammers’ second defeat of the weekend, as they had also lost by 26 runs to Voorburg at Westvliet on Saturday.

There they were chasing a much more modest target, Voorburg having reached 125 for eight, Nehaan Gigani having top-scored with 32, but three wickets for Floris de Lange (at a cost of 20 runs) and a hat-trick by Mees van Vliet, who finished with four for 24, restricted them to just 99 all out.

Rain played havoc with Saturday morning’s programme, with the matches between HCC and VOC Rotterdam and Sparta 1888 and Punjab Rotterdam abandoned without a ball being bowled, and only eight overs per side being possible at Westvliet, where Voorburg beat HBS by 13 runs.

Voorburg’s 95 for four was dominated by Musa Ahmad’s 27-ball 64, which brought his tally for the tournament to 348, and although Walbrugh made 39 from 22 deliveries before he was caught behind off Van Vliet and Tim Drummond contributed an unbeaten 29, the Crows were unable to score at the nine and a half an over they needed.

Improving conditions in the afternoon meant that Sparta were able to take on VRA Amsterdam, who missed an opportunity to go clear at the top of the table when they lost a see-sawing encounter by two wickets off the final ball of the match.

The leaders had been put on the back foot early by a vintage spell from Mudassar Bukhari, who displayed all his guile in an opening spell of three for 21, and they were only able to recover from 53 for six to 122 all out thanks to valuable contributions from Udit Nashier (29) and Aaditt Jain (17); Prithvi Balwantsingh kept up the pressure for Sparta with three for 29.

Bukhari, Sam Ferguson, Garnett Tarr and Will Clark all got a start at the top of Sparta’s order and Khalid Ahmadi made 18 from just eight deliveries, but VRA kept taking wickets, and Eduard Visser’s final over began with 11 still needed and seven wickets down.

Balwantsingh fell to the first ball, but Tom Hoornweg struck the second to the boundary, and a string of singles left four required off the last and skipper Joost-Martijn Snoep on strike.

His lofted drive to long off eluded the fielder, and Sparta had secured the two points they needed to put an end to any fears that they might become entangled in the relegation tussle.

Rod Lyall 29/06/2023

Just fourteen matches remain to be played now in the round robin phase of this year’s T20 Cup, with half of them taking place this weekend. Perhaps the only thing we know for certain is that the outcomes at top and (possibly) bottom won’t be finally resolved this week, but by Sunday evening at least the remaining issues will have been clarified.

The most significant match of the weekend is probably VOC Rotterdam’s’s clash with HCC at De Diepput on Saturday: currently just outside the semi-final places but with a game in hand over rivals Excelsior ‘20 (who don’t have a game this weekend), Cup-holders VOC really need to take the points here to give themselves a crucial advantage going into the final weekend.

An HCC win, on the other hand, would virtually guarantee HCC a slot on the finals day, with at least a four-point margin over those battling for the fourth semi-final place.

Personnel changes have made little difference to the Lions’ performances so far, and even the absence of Hidde Overdijk did not prevent their victory over ACC last week, while VOC dropped vital points when they ended up short in their run chase against Excelsior.

That said, even without Scott Edwards and Max O’Dowd the Bloodhounds have plenty of batting, and this game could be an absorbing encounter; it may be that it will be HCC’s attack which is the decisive factor, with Daniel Doram a key factor.

Missing half their first-choice side, Voorburg have had a pretty tough time over the past couple of weeks, although they did pull off a notable surprise by ending Punjab’s unbeaten run last Saturday before losing to Salland.

Saturday sees them taking on HBS Craeyenhout and ACC in a Westvliet double-header which completes their round-robin programme, and two wins would consolidate their mid-table position without, however, giving them a real possibility of reaching the finals day.

Musa Ahmad has virtually carried the side with his bat and to some degree with the ball, and his century against Punjab was a remarkable single-handed effort.

HBS shocked HCC in their last outing, but they, too, are very dependent on one individual in Tayo Walbrugh; man-for-man, though, they have more experience than their hosts, especially if, after their week off, they are again able to call on the likes of Ferdi and/or Stephan Vink, Tobias Visée and Navjit Singh,

With relegation still a possibility after Salland’s win against Voorburg, they have every incentive to put out a strengthened side against a Voorburg outfit which does look pretty vulnerable.

ACC’s position is a little healthier, but if they do not secure at least one more win in their last three games and other results go against them, even they could slip into the relegation zone.

They looked more solid last week with Chris Knoll in the side to support Thomas Hobson, but their bowling remains a source of concern and although Anis Raza has been giving sterling service with both bat and ball they will need early wickets against Voorburg if they are to have a decent chance of taking the points back north.

Of the clubs in the lower reaches of the table Sparta 1888 have the toughest day on Saturday, as they face first Punjab and then VRA at the Bermweg.

Although they have the cushion of the point they gained from their rained-off match against VOC, the unpredictable nature of T20 cricket means that they too will need to pick up at least one win from their last three games before they can breathe a little more easily, and given the strength of both Punjab and VRA it’s looking as if it may come down to their final match-up with HBS on 9 July.

Even the batting power of Ferguson, Tarr and Clark has not been enough to earn the Spartans more than a single victory so far, and with the Zulfiqars, Shoaib Minhas and Mohammad Shafiq among their first opponents and Johan Smal leading a talented VRA outfit, they will have to be at their very best if they are to cause an upset here.

For Punjab and VRA, of course, as for HCC, a victory on Saturday would make them virtually certain of a spot on the finals day, and that should be incentive enough.

Influential as some of these games may be in deciding who plays in next season’s Hoofdklasse T20 Cup, the real relegation battles will take place on Sunday, when HBS and ACC will travel to Deventer to take on Salland.

This is the last-chance saloon for Victor Lubbers’s side, whose programme will be completed by this double-header: two defeats would leave them irredeemably at the foot of the table, while even one win, especially against HBS, would keep a tiny window of hope open for them.

Should they win both the pressure on their rivals would then be enormous, even more so if they had lost to Voorburg on Saturday.

Those stakes should ensure that Salland put out a three-line whip for their German contingent, but even the efforts of Venkat Ganesan and Talha Ahmed Khan, backed up by the ‘official’ overseas players Finn Raxworthy and Fraser Bartholomew, have mostly been insufficient to earn them the points, and they will need to fire on all cylinders if they are to pull off a Great Escape on Sunday.

My picks: HCC; HBS, Voorburg; Punjab, VRA; HBS, ACC.