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Rod Lyall 04/06/2023

The undoubted highlight of an absorbing day’s cricket as the Topklasse T20 Cup got under way on Saturday was an astonishing innings from VRA’s Vikram Singh, whose unbeaten 64-ball 161 enabled his side to chase down an imposing HBS total of 223 for four.

Singh brought up his century from just 37 deliveries, almost certainly the fastest in the 17-year history of the Dutch T20 competition, and his complete innings was without question the highest individual score, eclipsing Tobias Visée’s 139 not out for HBS against HCC in 2020.

He struck 19 fours and eleven sixes, completely dominating the innings from the start, hitting six fours off Kyle Klein’s first over.

His partners were essentially spectators from 20 metres away, although he received valuable support from Teja Nidamanuru (24) in a third-wicket stand of 85.

The HBS innings had been more of a team effort, openers Reece Mason (52) and Tim Drummond (72) getting their side off to a good start, and Wesley Barresi (53 not out) and Nic Adendorff (32 not out) adding 72 in an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership.

The extraordinary uncertainties of cricket were then illustrated when VRA took on Punjab in the second game of the Craeyenhout triple-header, when Singh, whose three wickets for 26 had helped his side dismiss their opponents for 154, fell to Mohammad Shafiq off the second ball of the VRA reply.

Zamaan Khan made 49 as the Amsterdammers pursued what in the context seemed a fairly modest target, but Punjab’s bowlers maintained the pressure, Shafiq finishing with three for 31, and VRA went into the final over still needing seven for victory.

Sikander Zulfiqar was able to restrict the scoring to four singles, and with Leon Turmaine run out trying to get Johan Smal back on strike, Punjab held on to win by two runs, Smal finishing unbeaten on 37.

Punjab then made it two out of two with a 12-run victory over HBS, a result which was made to seem closer than it really was by a spirited attack in the closing overs from Kyle Klein and Julian de Mey, who added 51 from the last three.

53 from Shoaib Minhas, backed up by 44 from Mohsin Riaz and 41 not out from Sikander Zulfiqar, had enabled Punjab to reach 207 for six against the young HBS attack, and although Mason again gave his side a good start with 42 and Tayo Walbrugh chipped in with a 30-ball 45, at 143 for six HBS had seemed to be heading for a thumping defeat before Klein and De Mey came together to narrow the margin.

If the batters were generally in the ascendant at Craeyenhout, the balance between bat and ball was more even in the other triple header, at De Diepput, and conditions may actually have favoured the bowlers.

The HCC attack certainly found that to be the case after Boris Gorlee had put Excelsior ‘20 in in the opening game, with the spinners Daniel Doram and Clayton Floyd conceding only 16 and 17 respectively in their four-over spells.

Roel Verhagen’s 23-ball 37 was the best effort in Excelsior’s innings, Stan van Troost contributing 31, but HCC’s chief destroyer was Hidde Overdijk, who picked up three wickets in the final over to finish with five for 25 as Excelsior ended on 155 for eight.

The Schiedammers’ bowlers were unable to create the same problems, Ratha Alphonse and Tonny Staal putting on 133 for the first wicket before Staal fell to Umar Baker for 51, and Alphonse went on to make an unbeaten, 56-ball 82 as HCC won by nine wickets with eight deliveries to spare.

Excelsior’s attack was much more effective against Salland, with Baker claiming four for 15 and fellow-spinners Lorenzo Ingram and Verhagen taking the remaining three as, with two run-outs, Salland were bowled out for 136.

Talha Khan’s 58 was the only substantial performance in the Salland innings, Victor Lubbers the next best with 22.

Again, the chase proved much easier, Verhagen (62 from 45 deliveries) and Tim Etman (50 not out from 43) adding 109 for the second wicket, and Excelsior won by eight wickets.

It was HCC’s turn to struggle with the bat when they faced Salland in the third game, and it took Hidde Overdijk’s 31-ball 47 to get them to 145 before they were all out, Ruan du Plessis taking three for 21 for the visitors.

But that turned out to be enough, Talha Khan’s 20 again Salland’s top score as they were bowled out for just 111; after Doram had taken two for 9 in three overs and Jan-Wieger Overdijk two for 20 in four, Patient Charumbira and Daniel Crowley cleaned up the middle and lower order, taking three for 15 and three for 8 respectively.

Leaders in the 50-over Topklasse, Voorburg made the most of the presence of five of their soon-to-be-Zimbabwe-bound internationals, and skittled VOC Rotterdam for 93 at the Hazelaarweg.

Ryan Klein led the way with three for 13, including both openers, and then wrist and paceman -spinners Philippe Boissevain and Shariz Ahmad and paceman Mees van Vliet picked up two apiece, Pieter Seelaar top-scoring for VOC with 18.

VOC’s bowlers struck back as Voorburg hastened towards their target, claiming five wickets, but Noah Croes stood firm with 33 not out, and Voorburg gained a potentially significant net run rate advantage by winning in just 12.4 overs.

It was much closer at the Bermweg, where ACC pipped Sparta 1888 at the post with only one delivery to spare.

Sparta’s 165 for six was built on Garnet Tarr’s 53 and a typically adventurous 28-ball 47 from Ali Raza, but Heino Kuhn, also about to take the plane to Zimbabwe as part of the coaching staff, batted throughout the ACC reply for 73 not out, sharing a 123-run partnership with Thomas Hobson (69 from 40 balls) to set up the win.

Rod Lyall 01/06/2023

The KNCB’s innovative schedule for its new-look T20 competition gets under way on Saturday with two triple-headers, at De Diepput and Craeyenhout, and a couple of one-off matches into the bargain.

With the squad taking part in the World Cup Qualifier due to depart next week, this Saturday’s games will be the only opportunity for clubs to include their national team players before the finals day on 15 July.

The subsequent absence of those players will obviously make a big difference to some clubs, with Voorburg losing five regular players (plus Logan van Beek, who made his first appearances of the season last weekend), VRA Amsterdam three, and VOC Rotterdam the crucial contribution of Scott Edwards and Max O’Dowd.

Part of the restructuring of the KNCB’s competitions is that there will be separate promotion and relegation pathways for the 50-over and T20 leagues, which could mean that next season’s schedules will already be beginning to differ.

There is already some evidence that strength in one format does not guarantee equal strength in the other: the dominant sides in T20 over the past five years have been VOC, cup-winners three times in their last four attempts, and HBS, champions in 2018 and three times runners-up since 2017.

All of which means that the table at the end of the T20 round robin, with the top four teams going direct into the finals day, could look rather different from the current 50-over standings.

Turning to the immediate future, HCC will entertain Salland in the early game at De Diepput on Saturday, before the Overijssel side meet Excelsior ‘20 in their second match; the series will then be completed with the encounter between the hosts and the Schiedammers.

Semi-finalists in 2021, Salland’s prospects will depend a good deal on the commitments of their four German internationals, currently busy with preparations for the European T20 qualifier in late July, and their recent 50-over form does little to suggest that they will pose a significant threat to an HCC side which has been on an upward trajectory following a poor start to the season.

They will miss Clayton Floyd for most of the T20 programme, but Tonny Staal and Jonathan Vandiar are ideally suited to the shorter format, and the Lions have a well-balanced attack even without Floyd’s incisive left-armers.

For Excelsior it has been a disappointing season so far, but they are unaffected by national team call-ups and with Lorenzo Ingram in excellent form with both bat and ball they will be hoping to do much better in this competition.

The guests of HBS at Craeyenhout will be VRA Amsterdam, three times winners of the old-style T20 Cup in 2010-12, and Punjab Rotterdam.

Encouragement for the Crows will have come from the return, at least on a part-time basis, of Tobias Visée, a player for whom the T20 format might have been designed, and the outstanding form of Tayo Walbrugh; they will miss Wesley Barresi after this weekend, but most of the questions about this season’s side relate to its attack, Kyle Klein excepted, which lacks much of the punch of last year’s.

VRA have been highly inconsistent in the longer format so far, culminating in their missing-out on a place in the top six, and their problems will not be eased by the absence after this weekend of Vikram Singh, Aryan Dutt and Teja Nidamanuru.

All the more reason, then, for them to focus on picking up points while they can at Craeyenhout, and apart from the three internationals, seamers Ashir Abid and Eduard Visser have been picking up plenty of wickets, while Shirase Rasool (now, however, injured and likely to be out for some weeks) and Johan Smal have been in good form with the bat.

Three times cup winners with ACC between 2015 and 2017, the brothers Zulfiqar now form a vital partnership in the Punjab set-up, and if leg-spinning allrounder Saqib will be absent for most of the campaign, Sikander and Asad, along with elder brother Rehmat, will still be there to combine with overseas Mohsin Riaz and Shoaib Minhas to push for the club’s first-ever T20 title.

Both tri-series offer some pretty spicy encounters, but the two stand-alone fixtures are perhaps even more enticing.

While Excelsior and Salland do battle at De Diepput and Punjab take on VRA at Craeyenhout, Sparta 1888 will be at home to ACC at Sportpark Bermweg.

Both these sides have been, if not quite a revelation, certainly among the more successful Topklasse teams this season.

Despite a drubbing by Voorburg a fortnight ago Sparta finished Phase 1 of the 50-over competition in second place, and they have a side which looks equally well-suited to the shorter format: Ali Raza’s explosive batting at the top of the order, balanced by the more controlled skills of Sam Ferguson, Garnett Tarr and Will Clark, along with the new-ball effectiveness of Ahsan Malik, makes them strong contenders to reach the finals day for the first time.

Fitness worries around Mudassar Bukhari, another potential match-winner, will be a source of concern, but all in all, free of international call-ups, Sparta will start as one of the more fancied teams.

ACC may lack that explosive power, but after a dreadful start to the season Heino Kuhn is in the process of moulding an effective unit, and this competition will give them an opportunity to grow further. It is unfortunate for ACC that Kuhn will also miss most of the competition, since he will part of the coaching team with the Dutch in Zimbabwe.

Most tantalising of all, perhaps, is the clash between defending T20 champions VOC Rotterdam and runaway 50-over leaders Voorburg, whose game at Hazelaarweg will begin at 16:00.

If all the internationals are involved this will be an intriguing rematch of last Saturday’s 50-over encounter, with O’Dowd, Lane Berry and Edwards on VOC’s side and Michael Levitt, Noah Croes, Ryan Klein, Shariz Ahmad, Viv Kingma and Van Beek on the other.

There may, of course, be precautions demanded by the national coaching staff regarding the faster bowlers, but even so this promises to be an absorbing contest, although it may not tell us very much about the two clubs’ prospects in the rest of the competition.

My (very tentative!) picks: HCC, HBS; Punjab, Excelsior, Sparta; Voorburg; HCC, Punjab.