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Rod Lyall 28/08/2022

Victories for second-placed HCC and for Excelsior ’20 on Saturday set up a final-round clash which would determine which of the two sides would join Voorburg in next week’s first semi-final, with a double chance of reaching the grand final on 10 September.

HCC had to battle all the way to overcome VRA Amsterdam at De Diepput, a defeat for the Amsterdam side which ended their already slim hopes of squeezing into the semi-finals.

After winning the toss and electing to bat HCC were soon reduced to 38 for four, including a bizarre first wicket when opener Joost Kooistra instinctively used his hand to deflect the ball away from his stumps and was given out Obstructing the field, the first such dismissal in the Topklasse since 2015.

It made a memorable debut over for VRA left-armer Aaditt Jain, who went on to remove Tonny Staal in more conventional fashion, while Vikram Singh accounted for Boris Gorlee and Damian Crowley.

The Lions were rescued by half-centuries from their two overseas players, Zac Worden (54) and Tim Pringle (51), and with Hidde Overdijk contributing 35 and a cameo 5-ball 15 not out from Felix Bennett they were able to get the total up to 184 for eight.

Singh finished with four for 43, while Jain had a promising debut with two for 36, including the prized wicket of Worden.

Shirase Rasool and Singh got VRA’s chase off to a decent start, and even after Overdijk had removed Rasool and Bennett had claimed the wickets of Udit Nashier and Luke Scully they reached 95 for three and seemed well-placed to knock off the runs.

But then HCC’s three-man spin attack of Clayton Floyd, Pringle and Crowley regained control, and once Overdijk had returned to remove Singh, caught behind by Staal for 48, wickets began to tumble.

Jack Balbirnie made 37, but with two wickets apiece for the three spinners VRA were eventually dismissed for 162, losing by 22 runs.

Excelsior had to overcome a fine double from Gavin Kaplan, who took five for 43 and made 93, before completing a gripping 13-run victory over HBS at Craeyenhout.

After Tom Heggelman made a patient 46 at the top of Excelsior’s innings Lorenzo Ingram (86) and Stan van Troost (50) shared a fourth-wicket stand of 94 to take their side to 234 for three, but then in a dramatic end to the innings six wickets fell in the space of just nine deliveries for the addition of seven runs as the Schiedammers subsided to 250 all out.

Kaplan was the chief agent of the collapse, also adding a run-out to his tally, while Ryan Klein chipped in with three for 43.

Heggelman struck an early blow when HBS replied, removing the dangerous Tayo Walbrugh before he had scored, but a stand of 97 between Kaplan and Barresi set the home side on course for the win.

Ingram broke the partnership, Barresi holing out to Heggelman at long on when he had made 38, and Excelsior gradually took control through a fine spell of spin bowling from young Luuk Kroesen, enjoying his most extended bowl in the Topklasse and conceding just 21 runs from his ten overs.

The crucial moment came when Kaplan was smartly run out attempting to get back for a second run, and thereafter the asking rate began to climb, some quick thinking by Roel Verhagen behind the stumps producing two more dismissals.

Niels Etman claimed three for 49 as HBS tried to force the pace, and with 21 needed off his final over even a six by last man Stephan Vink wasn’t enough, HBS closing on 237 for nine.

Leaders Voorburg, meanwhile, cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Punjab Rotterdam at Westvliet, an unbeaten 103 from Andre Malan and a half-century by Musa Ahmad enabling them to pass the defending champions’ total of 171 in 26.2 overs.

After winning the toss Punjab collapsed to 53 for six, Karl Nieuwoudt taking three wickets and Bas de Leede two, before Teja Nidamanuru (43) and Sikander Zulfiqar (57 not out) achieved a partial rescue with a seventh-wicket stand of 84.

Nieuwoudt finished with three for 26 and Shariz Ahmad removed the middle order for figures of three for 37, De Leede taking two for 28.

Malan and Musa then put up another century opening stand for Voorburg, leaving Punjab with a tricky visit to the Amsterdamse Bos on Sunday where even a win might not be enough to see them squeeze into the semi-finals.

Rod Lyall and Bertus de Jong 26/08/2022

Writing this before the penultimate round of Championship Pool matches adds an element of unreality to the exercise: by Saturday evening we will have a clearer idea of what five of the top six will need to do on Sunday to make the semi-finals, or indeed whether that is still possible. In the Relegation Pool things are much more certain: most of the attention will be on events at the Bermweg, where Sparta and Dosti have a shoot-out to decide which of them gets the lifeline of a play-off against the champions of the Hoofdklasse (currently likely to be Hermes-DVS or Quick Haag, or just possibly Rood en Wit or Bloemendaal). The other four Relegation Pool sides will be playing for pride, and perhaps with an eye to next year.

RL: Depending upon the outcome of their Saturday encounters against HBS and VRA respectively, Excelsior and HCC may well be battling to stay in the four (in Excelsior’s case) or to hold on to second position, with its double-crack at the grand final (in HCC’s). Excelsior have the advantage of literally playing on their own turf, but they also know that despite a valiant Lorenzo Ingram century they fell just short against these opponents at De Diepput after Tonny Staal had hammered 143. Niels Etman, Tom Heggelman and Brett Hampton are a different proposition at Thurlede, but Excelsior will need early wickets to contain HCC’s batting line-up, while they will equally need their own top order to perform well against a well-balanced HCC attack. The Lions are finishing strongly after a patchy start to the campaign, but with so much at stake this is likely to be a very tight game indeed.

BdJ: With both teams reluctantly facing a double-header there’s a real question of what sort of a side each will be able to muster for the second fixture. The late notice for last Saturday’s switch is understood to have caused player-availability headaches for both captains for the weekend, and it’s possible the outcome will be determined by just how successful Gorlee and Heggelman have been in their respective last minute ring-rounds. One thing that is certain however, is that the hosts will be without Brett Hampton, whose departure will put even more on the shoulders of Ingram in the middle order, especially when it comes to dealing with HCC’s left arm spin threat.

RL: Having played fewer matches than their main rivals for a top four spot HBS Craeyenhout can be fairly sanguine about their final-round encounter with Voorburg at Westvliet, and will be especially so if they carry into this game the points from Saturday. There’s little more to say about the attributes of a Voorburg side which has lost just twice all season, and which will presumably be intent on completing their regular programme in style as they move into the finals phase. At their best (which means with Tayo Walbrugh and Wesley Barresi on song with the bat and Ryan Klein and Ferdi Vink cutting through with the ball) the Crows can be a match for anyone in the competition, and after being in second spot for much of the second phase they will be very keen to regain that privileged place if its humanly possible. With 809 runs under his belt with at least three matches (and perhaps as many as five) to go, moreover, Walburgh has an outside chance of becoming the first batter since 2017 to reach 1000 runs in a top-flight season.

BdJ: Another two teams hit with late-season departures, HBS are understood to be without Gavin Kaplan (and likely the semi-retired Toby Visée who has been only intermittently available all season) while Voorburg have lost Logan van Beek, who received a summons from New Zealand A over the weekend. The latter’s call-up alongside former Netherlands team-mate and newly-ascended Blackcap Michael Rippon will be of concern to the Oranje fans too of course, though such questions rather beyond the remit of a lowly Topklasse preview. The rest of VCC’s international contingent will be back however, having given good account of themselves against Pakistan. The game will of course be an exercise in momentum-building for the Voorburgers, already assured of the top spot, while for HBS it may yet prove decisive.

RL: Whether VRA Amsterdam still have a chance of reaching the four at 11:00 on Sunday will depend on Saturday’s events, and in particular on whether they have managed to bring the points back to Amstelveen from De Diepput. Either way, Peter Borren’s side will want to finish the regular season with a win over Punjab Rotterdam, whose own prospects of a semi-final spot may well demand a win here. They will, of course, be without Johan Smal, while Punjab will still have Jonathan Vandiar, the continuation of whose purple patch looks crucial to their hopes of – unlikely though it may appear from here – successfully defending their Topklasse title. If the weather holds the VRA ground could be the setting for a bonanza of runs, but that would need the home side’s top order to show what it is capable of rather more successfully than they have done for much of the season.

BdJ: While Ireland women did manage to rack up a record score there on Wednesday, the VRA square looks to be showing the effects of a long season in recent weeks. Neither the pitch nor the outfield are likely to be near as quick as they were when England visited, nor the boundaries as near as they were at the Zomercomplex when these sides last met. Despite the limitations of both sides bowling, expect runs to be somewhat harder to come by that in their last encounter, and fielding to have a more discernible role in the game. Depending on how other games shake out this fixture could prove a de-facto eliminator or an irrelevance to composition of the final four, though it will surely be keenly contested regardless.

RL: Nowhere will more be at stake on Sunday than at Sportpark Bermweg, where the loser of the encounter between Sparta 1888 and Dosti Amsterdam will head into next year’s Hoofdklasse, while the winners will meet this season’s Hoofdklasse champions to decide whether they stay up. Dosti began their three-match winning run by beating Sparta at Drieburg on 7 August, while Sparta lost four on the trot before beating a greatly-weakened VOC last Saturday. Now without Samit Gohil, Sparta are even more reliant on Mudassar Bukhari (who may, it is rumoured, retired after this game) and Ahsan Malik, while Dosti’s sudden return to winning form owes much to Amitoze Singh, Kuldeep Diwan and Waheed Masood. Dosti’s escape would be Houdini-esque were they to pull it off, and it is unquestionably they who will travel to Capelle with the wind in their sails.

BdJ: It’s faintly odd to be talking about the momentum of a side that’s barely won a game in the last two years, but there’s no question Dosti have looked a different team in the last few weeks. While Singh and Diwan have certainly started pulling their weight, they seem to have dragged the rest of the team in the same direction too. Vinoo Tewarie, Waqas Raja and Asief Hoseinbaks have also added occasional contributions, and a modicum of self-belief has crept into the Dosti dressing room. It will take something of a turnaround in the Spartan camp to derail the long-delayed Dosti train now, though a Bukhari valedictory could certainly still sink his old club.

RL: A strong second phase has seen Salland Deventer firmly established at the top of the pool table and confirmed as part of next year’s ten-team Topklasse, while ACC can travel to Het Schootsveld secure in the knowledge that despite last week’s loss to Dosti they, too, have avoided the drop, by virtue of having a better points average than any rivals even if they lose again here. Whether Salland’s Germans can outdo ACC’s South Africans is likely to be a key issue, although the brothers Lubbers for the hosts and Mees van Vliet for the Amsterdammers will ensure plenty of local interest as well.

BdJ: While of no particular import to the competition, the season’s final fixture still offers ACC and Salland the chance to finish on a high, the latter especially have something of a point to prove in their first season in the top-flight (in this incarnation at least). Young van Vliet has his place at the top of the wicket-taking table to shore-up before ACC sit out the final phase, while Smith and Hobson will both be eyeing up 500-run seasons. It may only be pride on the line, but then neither side lacks for that.

RL: VOC Rotterdam, likewise, are safe as houses, while Kampong Utrecht make the journey to the Hazelaarweg knowing that after a very disappointing season they are heading back to the Hoofdklasse. It would pretty much cap things off if, having beaten Punjab and HCC in Phase One, they were to add VOC to their scalps, but in reality a higher priority ought to be starting the process of building a side capable of gaining promotion again next year. In Alex Roy, Kertan Nana, Pierre Jacod and Tushar Sharma they have the nucleus of a much better team than they have been able to show this season, and they will doubtless have benefited from an exposure which cannot have been easy at times. VOC, also, have work to do, if they are to overcome their dependence on O’Dowd, Edwards and Seelaar, which narrowly cost them a place in the top six this year. There may not seem to be much to play for at the Hazelaarweg, but finishing the season with a strong performance would offer the players some slight consolation. #ThereAreNoDeadRubbers.

BdJ: Kampong have certainly been dealt a rough hand by the format-fates this season, playing most of their away games on mats and then seeing most of their hard-won points evaporate at the phase-change, and may well feel their impending return to the Hoofdklasse is something of an injustice. The loss of Pite van Biljon to illness at the crunch phase and stop-gap replacement Tom Cooper’s insistence on scoring all his runs against Pakistan rather than the likes of Salland or Dosti did not help their cause either, though their reliance on overseas players for runs (albeit a failing they share with luckier sides) suggests the step up to Topklasse was one they weren’t quite ready for. They will doubtless have a point to prove against the Bloodhounds come Sunday though, while VOC will likely be glad to return to their accustomed happy-go-lucky approach to Topklasse competition in a pressure-free finale. Said insouciance has rarely prevented O’Dowd or Edwards from racking up runs of course, nor even the mercurial Tim de Kok on occasion. With Cooper back in Australia already, Kampong’s attack will need to be at their best and the batting considerably better if they’re to take another scalp back down to the Hoofdklasse.
#ThereLiterallyAreThoughThisIsExactlyWhatDeadRubberMeans

RL’s picks: Excelsior, Voorburg, VRA, Dosti, Salland, VOC
BdJ’s picks: HCC, Voorburg, VRA, Dosti, ACC, VOC

Rod Lyall 21/08/2022

Dosti Amsterdam’s 59-run victory over ACC at Het Loopveld on Saturday took them a further step towards avoiding automatic relegation, but they will still face a difficult expedition to Capelle a/d IJssel next Sunday in their quest for a place in the play-off against the champions of the Hoofdklasse.

Next week’s showdown at the Bermweg was set up by Sparta 1888’s 75-run win over a greatly-weakened VOC Rotterdam on Saturday, which brought the Capelle side level on points with Dosti, although they have played a game more and are therefore behind them on points average.

After winning just one league match in the previous two seasons and losing their first eleven games this year Dosti have now won three in a row, a last-ditch revival which leaves them two wins away from retaining their place in the Topklasse.

Their defeat of ACC owed much to a fourth-wicket stand of 142 between Vinoo Tewarie (64) and Amitoze Singh (82), which enabled them to recover from a precarious 46 for four and reach a competitive 236 for nine.

Mees van Vliet was again the pick of ACC’s bowlers, finishing with three for 45.

The home side began their chase promisingly, Thomas Hobson and Robin Smith putting on 74 for the first wicket, but once Smith, on 65, had been caught at short cover by Tewarie off the bowling of Kuldeep Diwan the middle order fell apart, only Anis Raza with 34 showing any real resistance.

Diwan took five for 34, his best return of the season, and ACC were all out for 177.

At Sportpark Bermweg VOC’s Max Hoornweg marked his return to his former club with a haul of four for 24, enabling his side to restrict Sparta to 156 for eight from their 50 overs.

They seemed to be heading for an even lower total when they collapsed to 93 for eight, but they were rescued by Ahsan Malik and Usman Saleem, not out on 42 and 36 respectively as they shared an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 63.

Daan van Everdingen, playing first first top-flight match for ten years, gave VOC a solid start with 28, but otherwise only captain Tim de Kok with 21 delayed the Sparta victory for any length of time, Khalid Ahmadi taking four for 16, Joost Martijn Snoep three for 27 and Malik two for 23 as VOC were dismissed for just 83.

Kampong Utrecht’s attempt to avoid automatic relegation came to a disappointing end at Maarschalkerweerd, where they fell 22 runs short of their target as they chased Salland’s 194 for eight.

52 from Sahir Naqash, 31 from opener Venkat Ganesan and 34 from Elam Bharathi enabled Salland to reach their total, Tushar Sharma the most successful of Kampong’s bowlers with three for 32, but stand-in captain Reinder Lubbers, deputising for his brother Victor, removed both openers, and Kampong were in trouble at 36 for three.

Cole Briggs and Vikram Chaturvedi managed a partial revival, but once Akhil Gopinath trapped Briggs in front for 60 the innings again fell apart, and with Gopinath finishing with three for 28 and two wickets apiece for Lubbers, Ganesan and Bharathi, Kampong were all out for 173.

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 18/08/20

Two rounds to go, and there’s a few things we already know for sure. Voorburg will top the table, while VOC, Salland and ACC have secured safety in the lower half. There the battle is now between Dosti, Sparta and Kampong for the one remaining chance to stay up, while at the top of the table HCC, HBS, Excelsior and Punjab are all tied in second on six points. VRA, two points behind the pack, almost certainly need to win both their last matches. The entire round for the top half has been shifted back by a week however, all three matches having been deferred (not without protest in some cases) due to the absence of international players owing to the Pakistan series.

BdJ: With two consecutive wins under their belt, Dosti Amsterdam will have a modicum of momentum on their side as they cross the river to take on ACC in their penultimate match. Dosti find themselves remarkably well placed to stage a last-ditch escape via the relegation play-off, with a points average advantage over Sparta and a NRR lead over both their remaining rivals. Nonetheless they’ll need to win at least one and probably both of their last games to get there. Despite ACC having little left to play for but pride, they are safe for good reason. The principle reason being Mees van Vliet’s remarkable season that’s seen him top the wicket-taking table, and a steady supply of runs from overseas Hobson and Smith. Dosti arguably look the more balanced side however, with a solid roster of spin options and Amitoze Singh finding some form. They will likely need more runs from the rest of the order in the next two weeks if they’re to keep their hopes of another Topklasse season alive however.

RL: Whatever the chemical reaction that has turned Dosti from serial losers to winners of two matches in a row (all right, it’s not much, but everybody has to start somewhere), there should be teams of scientists trying to identify the elements of the process with a view to patenting them. Two more victories would give Mahesh Hans’s side a real chance of staying up, but the close run ACC gave VOC last week should caution them about thinking that their visit to Het Loopveld will be straightforward. On the other hand, after a brilliant start from Smith and Knoll the rest of the ACC batting contributed fewer than a hundred runs against VOC, and although Fergus Wegener has started to look solid in the middle order they may find the going tough against Waheed Masood and Co. Could be close, but Dosti have the wind in their sails.

BdJ: Likewise Kampong have little room for error if they are to secure a second season in the top flight. Taking on Salland this week, it’s not certain what sort of strength side they’ll be welcoming to Utrecht given that Salland have no need of points from here. Kampong will certainly be without Tom Cooper however, who is set to depart after the Pakistan series in any event. Cooper’s 37 last week was Kampong’s top score by a distance, while he and Cole Briggs were the only ones to make significant scores against Salland in their first match. While they have reason to feel somewhat aggrieved at how the format this season has treated them, their batting since the start of the second phase has not helped them either. On paper then another defeat looks likely if they can’t turn their batting around, but with only one team really needing the win there’s every chance this is the game they do it.

RL: Kampong’s real problem is that, a couple of supreme efforts against top sides notwithstanding, they have largely been unable to get the better of the main rivals in the relegation stakes. They have a useful attack, Alex Roy being to them what Van Vliet has been to ACC, but their batting has seldom produced when it really matters. Who Salland will bring to Maarschalkerweerd is, however, the Great Unknown, and should the answer turn out to be the B team then Kampong’s chances of taking the points they so sorely need will be great improved. The best they can hope for now is that play-off place against the Hoofdklasse champions, but even that is preferable to automatic relegation.

BdJ: The day’s final game sees Sparta 1888 take on VOC, and fair to say Sparta will be delighted with the timing. Unlike the other teams who have seen players called up for national duty, VOC have agreed to play on regardless. This is perhaps not unrelated to the fact that as of last week they are safe from relegation and thus for the Bloodhounds the match is a dead rubber. For Sparta the format has thus gifted them a chance to play what for them is a crucial match against arguably the strongest team in the bottom half while the latter is without their two top-scorers and leading wicket-taker. Now on a five-match losing streak, it may still be beyond Sparta to take advantage of their fortune, but with Ahmadi, Malik and Bukhari beginning to find some rhythm with the ball they have the attack to run through a weakened VOC.

RL: Much may depend here on how well Mudassar Bukhari comes back from the leg injury he sustained at Salland last week. That said, even his spinners were effective enough to capture three wickets, and the consequences for his batting are more likely to be an issue – although who would want to bowl to a Bukhari reduced to hitting fours and sixes? In the perennial, never-to-be-resolved debate about playing competition matches when the national team is otherwise engaged, too little weight tends to be given to the opportunity it offers for fringe first-team players to gain experience and state their case, and with VOC now safe and presumably beginning to think about next season, those who often have a minor role in the Topklasse side or seldom get picked at all will get their chance against Sparta to show what they can do. Even without Edwards, O’Dowd and Jain VOC have enough in their locker to prevail over an ailing Sparta, although their absence does indeed level the odds significantly.

BdJ’s picks: Dosti, Kampong, Sparta.
RL’s picks: ACC, Kampong, VOC.