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Bertus de Jong 21/07/23

As we enter the final furlong of the 2023 season there’s still plenty of jockeying for position to be done at the top of the table, while the lower four scrabble for safety. A potentially decisive double weekend looms, with all six sides in the Championship pool still in contention for a berth in the finals, and indeed the inside track of a top two finish. At the other end nobody’s quite safe yet either, though that could all look different by Monday morning.

Frontrunners Voorburg are all but assured of a place in the final four, and three points clear of their nearest rivals could seal a double shot at the grand final this weekend. Unbeaten since May, they take on a depleted VOC Rotterdam in their first fixture at Westvliet on Saturday. Mees van Vleit and the wrist-spin pair Shariz Ahmad and Flip Boissevain secured them the win over HCC last week, and with Viv Kingma likely returning to action the Voorburgers will be close to full strength for the weekend. Not so their opponents, who have lost Max O’Dowd to the GT20 and will be without last week’s centurion Francoise Fourie for the weekend too. Scott Edwards is expected to play on Saturday at least, but despite their short-format success of late the Bloodhounds look a long shot to derail the Voorburg procession. Likewise Voorburg will start as favourites on Sunday against round 12 opponents ACC, again at Westvliet. The Amsterdammers bested VOC last week thanks to half centuries from Ali Raza and the returning Heino Kuhn, while Potdar has again been in the runs for the Dutch under 23s, which often presages Topklasse scores. Nonetheless the smart money is on VCC going two from two at the weekend and sealing their place in the preliminary final.

Second-place Sparta 1888 likewise have a date with the Bloodhounds this weekend, though first they will travel to de Diepput to take on HCC. Both teams suffered setbacks at the start of League 2, though HCC failed to knock VCC of course last week they did look dominant in phases despite the limited contribution of a still-recuperating Jonathan Vandiar. Sparta meanwhile look outclassed by Punjab, and missing all three of their first choice seam attack rather bereft of firepower with the ball. Though in overseas Clark, Tarr and Ferguson, along with the astutely-acquired Joost Kroesen the Spartans have a solid batting card, even a depleted VOC may fancy their chances of knocking off any runs they can post at the weekend if Sparta can’t retrieve or replace their pace attack.

Third-placed Punjab Rotterdam meanwhile look to be hitting their stride at just the right time, with Saqib Zulfiqar returning from national duty brimming with confidence, while his two brothers Asad and Rehmat have shaken off a poor first phase to find form of their own in his absence. Sikander meanwhile has performed solidly all season, and with all four Zulfiqars firing Punjab just don’t lose. Add to that Mubashar Hussain looking in decent rhythm with the new ball and Shoaib Minhas still making rapid runs and it’s easy to see the Rotterdammers staging another come-from-behind run to the title. Certainly they’ll start as favourites in their fixtures against ACC and HCC this weekend.

Down in the relegation scrap VRA are the closest team to clawing their way to safety, and though the two points they took home from Schiedam last week will have calmed some nerves in Amstelveen the manner of getting them will not. A scratchy win over Excelsior is still a win though, and VRA probably only need one more to be safe. They have every chance of getting one when they head to Deventer take on a Salland side as short of wins this season as they are Germans this weekend, which is to say at the very least three less than they’d like. With Ganesan, Barathi and Naqash all on national duty here in Edinburgh Salland look still more dependent on their misfiring overseas and long-suffering skipper Victor Lubbers. Even without the now injured Aadit Jain and the reportedly bedridden Teja Nidamanu who seems to have left his health with his hair in Zimbabwe, the Amsterdammers ought to be confident in taking two points back from the orient. They’ll likely have a tougher task awaiting them at Craeyenhout the next day when they take on HBS, though it’s not yet clear to us here whether Toby Visée, Navjit Singh and Ferdi Vink will be turning out for the Crows on Saturday or Sunday, if either.

From the perspective of HBS’ survival the bigger game of the two will be Saturday’s game against Excelsior ‘20, currently two wins adrift of the Crows level with Salland at the bottom of the table. Besting Excelsior would put more distance between HBS and the relegation slot, though for the Schiedammers the real four-pointer is their game against Salland on Sunday – the Easterlings being their closest rivals at the bottom of the pile as it stands. Excelsior’s continued reliance on the indefatigable Lorenzo Ingram for wickets and runs is becoming ever more glaring, though so long as he continues to delivery there’s enough occasional contributors about to likely ensure their survival for another year. A bad day against Salland on Sunday though, and the Thurlede faithful may start to get nervous…

(in Rod’s absence we’ve pressed a mystery predictor into service this week, we can assure you his or her expertise is at least equal to our own -ed)

Round 11

BB’s picks: Sparta, Punjab, VCC, Excelsior, VRA

BdJ’s picks: HCC, Punjab, VCC, HBS, VRA

Round 12

BB’s picks: VOC, VCC, Punjab, Excelsior, HBS

BdJ’s picks: VOC, VCC, Punjab, Salland, VRA

Rod Lyall 17/07/23

A maiden Topklasse century by opener Francois Fourie was insufficient to earn VOC Rotterdam the points at the Hazelaarweg on Sunday, as Heino Kuhn’s ACC side dismissed their hosts for 210 and went on to win by five wickets.

The defeat was a blow to VOC’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals, but with four rounds of the second phase still to be played and little separating five of the top six sides, there is still plenty of time for the Rotterdammers to turn things around.

Matters looked even worse for VOC at one stage, when after Fourie and Arnav Jain had given the side a solid start with an opening stand of 52 Anis Raza (three for 54) and Devanshu Arya (three for 34) ran through the middle order, reducing them to 106 for seven.

With Fourie holding things together, though, the last three wickets almost doubled the score, and when the opener was ninth man out for a 102-ball 103 Max Hoornweg and Pierce Fletcher added another precious 21 runs.

Then the home side hit back, and at 45 for four ACC were in trouble in their turn.

They were rescued by Kuhn and Raza, who added exactly 100 for the fifth wicket, and after Kuhn had been dismissed for 55 Raza (57 not out) and Fergus Wegener (39 not out) knocked off the 69 that were still required.

At Westvliet runaway leaders Voorburg reinforced their position with a 23-run victory over HCC, but they had to work hard to see off the Lion’s robust challenge.

They could thank opener Nehaan Gigani (76) and captain Sybrand Engelbrecht (49) for their total of 231, Hidde Overdijk taking three for 42, but although Patient Charumbira, promoted to open, and Tonny Staal gave them a good start and Teun Kloppenburg made 59, HCC were eventually dismissed for 208.

Mees van Vliet claimed three for 35 for Voorburg and Shariz Ahmad three for 50, with Philippe Boissevain taking three for 15.

Punjab Rotterdam improved their chances of gaining a semi-final spot with a comprehensive win against Sparta 1888 at the Zomercomplex, dismissing their visitors for 157 and taking only 27.4 overs to complete an eight-wicket victory.

Saqib Zulfiqar celebrated his return from international duty with four for 34, and then made an unbeaten 31 to secure the points, assisting his brother Asad, who was also not out on 62.

In the relegation battle VRA Amsterdam and HBS Craeyenhout took significant steps towards survival with low-scoring wins against Excelsior ‘20 and Salland respectively.

At Thurlede Aryan Duty, another returnee from Zimbabwe, took four for 24 as VRA bowled Excelsior out for 175, almost everyone in the Schiedammers’ line-up getting a start but Roel Verhagen’s 28 the highest score.

But VRA also struggled despite Zamaan Khan’s 48, and at 147 for eight it looked as if Excelsior might again defend a modest total.l

They were denied, however, by Udit Nashier and Eduard Visser, who guided their side to a two-wicket victory.

Events followed a similar course at Craeyenhout, where HBS dismissed Salland for 172, Victor Lubbers top-scoring with 51.

Ferdi Vink claimed three for 37, Nic Adendorff three for 32 and Julian de Mey three for 23.

HBS then took just 32 overs to reach their target, Tobias Visée making 36 and Tim Drummond 44, with Kyle Klein and De Mey together at the end as the home side won by three wickets.