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HCC march to their not-quite title

Rod Lyall 24/08/20

It was HCC’s day on Sunday, as they prevailed over the weather, the Punjab attack, and ultimately their opponents’ fearsome batting line-up to clinch the bragging rights, if not the club’s 46th national championship, with a 63-run victory over their nearest challengers at the Zomercomplex.

After several hours’ frustrating wait the most decisive match of this abbreviated season was reduced to a 35-over affair and, having been put in to bat, HCC faced the task of setting a target that might be beyond the reach of Stef Myburgh and Co.

Skipper Tonny Staal gave them a promising start with a run-a-ball 24 before falling to Mubashar Hussain, but it was Musa Nadeem Ahmad who created the platform for a sizeable total with a solid 62, sharing a stand of 67 in nine overs with a much more aggressive Hidde Overdijk.

Once Ahmad had gone Overdijk took over, and his 49-ball 83 not out, supported by 35 from 18 deliveries from Yash Patel as the pair added another 84 before Patel was run out off the final ball of the innings, enabled HCC to reach a very imposing 244 for six.

Overdijk’s knock included four fours and seven sixes, while Mubashar Hussain’s figures of three for 28 were outstanding in the midst of so much mayhem.

Faced with making seven an over against a testing HCC attack, Punjab were given a good start in their turn by Myburgh and Rehmat Zulfiqar, but the loss of three crucial wickets in the space of seven deliveries, the big guns of Myburgh, Rehmat and Teja Nidamanuru falling to Hidde Overdijk and his brother Jan Wieger, turned the game the Lions’ way.

The asking rate climbed as wickets continued to fall, Olivier Klaus chiming in with three for 16 in his seven overs, and at 90 for seven with only 13 overs left the Punjab challenge was over.

Then Jan Wieger Overdijk returned to claim two more, finishing with four for 37, but Sikander Zulfiqar was still at the crease, and together with Suleiman Tariq he added 79 for the last wicket in a defiant rearguard action.

Two successive sixes off Musa Ahmad took him to 99, but then he missed the next one and was bowled, having faced 79 deliveries and hit five fours and seven sixes, and Punjab were all out for 181.

Voorburg, the only other side to have beaten Punjab in the Topklasse this season, made the most of the opportunity to move level with them with an untroubled seven-wicket victory over wooden-spooners Dosti-United at Westvliet.

Dosti, after electing to bat, were dismissed for 127, only Sukumar Raji with 37 playing a subsgtntial innings, Viv Kingma the most successful of Voorburg’s bowlers with three for 23.

And then the home side needed just 24 of the 43 overs at their disposal to knock off the runs, skipper Ba de Leede again leading the way with an unbeaten 46 and Aryan Dutt contributing 35.

At the Bermweg Sparta 1888 had one of their better days, beating VRA Amsterdam by 29 runs to move into fifth place on the table.

The basis of their victory was a second-wicket partnership of 117 between Craig Ambrose (53) and Ali Raza (73), compiled after Lenert van Wyk had been dismissed by the first ball he received.

Two mini-collapses, one mid-innings and one towards the end, prevented the Capelle side from fully capitalising on this platform, but their 227 for nine was enough to put VRA under pressure as they replied.

Then Mudassar Bukhari struck two early blows, and the Amsterdammers never really recovered, although Peter Borren top-scored with 38, to add to the three for 40 he had taken in the Sparta innings, and Adeel Raja made 30 not out as he marshalled the tail and enabled his side to reach 198.

Usman Saleem did most of the damage for Sparta, working his way through the middle order and finishing with four for 47, while Bukhari had three for 24.

In another mid-table clash Julian de Mey was again in good form with the bat for HBS Craeyenhout, his 71 not out taking his side to a four-wicket home victory over ACC.

HBS were chasing the Amsterdammers’ 171 all out, in which Shreyas Potdar (47) and Aryan Kumar (36) put on 80 for the fourth wicket before Wessel Coster (four for 24) and Stephan Vink (three for 26) engineered a slump in which seven wickets fell for just 34 runs.

The Crows were in trouble themselves at 51 for four and 74 for five, but De Mey stood firm, supported by useful innings from Benno Boddendijk and Ferdi Vink, the latter remaining until the target was achieved with three overs to spare.

At Hazelaarweg, VOC Rotterdam secured their second win of the season, beating Excelsior ‘20 by 22 runs, mainly thanks to a fourth-wicket stand of 106 between Arnav Jain (62), his maiden Topklasse half-century, and Ahsan Malik (53).

This enabled the home side to reach 160 all out despite Rens van Troost taking six for 42, and although Excelsior started steadily in reply they were unable to generate the momentum they needed or any substantial partnership as VOC chipped way at their line-up.

Opener Luuk Kroesen made a patient 30 and Lorenzo Ingram, batting at seven, equalled that score without being dismissed, but he received insufficient support and was left stranded as his side was dismissed for 138.

Jelte Schoonheim, playing his 500th senior game for the club, was the main wicket-taker with three for 23, while there were two apiece for the old stagers Ahsan Malik and Bobby Hanif.

Round 8 Preview

Rod Lyall and Bertus de Jong 20/08/20

It’s not difficult to spot the Match of the Day this week, with the top two sides meeting in what would effectively be the championship decider if there were a championship to decide. But there are some other tasty encounters on the agenda as well, if you’re a real cricket lover or – a more numerous species in the Netherlands – a passionate enthusiast for your club.

RL: Just one point ahead after last Sunday’s DLS tie, leaders HCC make the challenging trip to the Zomercomplex to take on Punjab Rotterdam. The game pits the best batting combination in the competition, which slaughtered the Sparta bowling last week, against the most effective attack, while the corresponding match-up between HCC’s top and middle order and Punjab’s bowlers is less imposing but nevertheless potentially decisive. Even the toss whets the appetite: if Suleiman Tariq wins if for the home side, should he opt for runs on the board or rely on his batters’ awesome chasing capacity; should Tonny Staal call correctly, would it be better to try to get amongst the Punjab top order early and risk a massive chase, or to look to set a target his bowlers can defend? Either way, I know where I would want to be on Sunday if it didn’t involve a 24-hour journey!

BdJ:HCC’s attack has unquestionably impressed thus far, but containing a rampant Myburgh, especially within the limited confines of the Zomercomplex, will prove a tougher task than they have faced thus far, and with an enviably deep batting order behind him avoiding a Myburgh onslaught will likely be necessary but not sufficient to keep Punjab to a manageable total. The point HCC took from Thurlede last week effectively overturned Punjab’s considerable net run rate advantage, however, and with the Rotterdammers facing the tougher final fixture away at VRA next week the hosts will arguably be under the greater pressure come Sunday.

RL: It’s a real test of character to come back from a mauling like the one Sparta 1888’s Bukhari-less attack was handed by Punjab last Sunday, although the batters will have been given heart by their display and especially by the century from Lenert van Wyk. They return to the Bermweg to entertain VRA Amsterdam, who fought all the way against Voorburg but whose batting had ultimately not given the bowlers enough to play with. Capelle a/d IJssel is never an easy place for visiting teams, but VRA will hope to get more from their top order against the Sparta attack, while the home side will be hoping that Ben Cooper doesn’t decide to cut loose in the way that Myburgh and Nidamanuru did for Punjab last week.

BdJ: With the weight of runs he’d accumulated in the T20 competition it seemed almost inevitable that van Wyk would start cashing in in the longer format soon enough, and there’s little reason to believe he’s run out of steam. Yet VRA’s chief strength has been the batting quality of some of their youngsters, and perhaps as much the adequacy of the rest, coupled with the fact that their Pros are both Dutch and Dutch-based. Thus even another ton from van Wyk may not be enough, though with weather expected to play a role VRA’s greater depth may not be as influential as they might hope.

RL: Voorburg had a couple of unquiet moments towards the end of their modest run chase in the Amsterdamse Bos but their attack proved its strength against Borren and Co. and will expect to find Dosti-United Amsterdam a considerably less menacing proposition. The Amsterdammers put up their best batting performance of the season against ACC, both Shahdab Ghori and Mahesh Hans making half-centuries, but the new-ball pairing of Kingma and Qasim, not to mention Philippe Boissevain’s leg spin, will give them plenty to think about as they try to consolidate the progress they have gradually made. The solidity of Voorburg’s batting, especially in the absence of Tom de Grooth, remains a cause for concern, but the question is whether Dosti have the bowlers to exploit that weakness.

BdJ: It would be easy to make too much of Dosti’s first serious total last week given that it came against and ACC side bowling to defend, and comfortably defending, a much higher target. But nonetheless the Amsterdammers showed a capacity to make runs even in the absence of skipper Vinoo Tewarie, and both Waheed Masood and Mahesh Hans continued to prove themselves capable of taking wickets. Dosti’s performances have been trending irregularly upwards since their admittedly abject start, having come close to finding their first points against VOC the week before. They remain underdogs against VCC of course, coming up against an attack that undid VRA’s much more resilient line-up last week, but at least don’t look like rolling over just yet.

RL: Both winners last week, HBS Craeyenhout and ACC meet in Den Haag with a chance of finishing in the right half of the table. ACC are currently fifth, but their margin over their hosts is just one win, and on paper they look pretty evenly matched. The fact that HBS got to 251 last Sunday despite the early loss of Tobias Visée should encourage them enormously, and it’s a good sign that Julian de Mey and Navjit Singh were able to bat with so much self-possession. ACC, on the other hand, saw Charles McInerney and Chris Knoll do the same job for them, while both sides have attacks which are hard-working rather than spectacular. Sander Geenevasen can scarcely expect ACC’s top order to thrash about as accommodatingly as VOC’s did last Sunday, but the combination of his seam bowling with that of Wessel Coster and Singh, along with the spin of De Mey and Adil Ahmed, may be enough to give HBS the edge.

BdJ: ACC have continued to outperform expectations through the season, most notably with the bat. The likes of Ramesh Babu, McInerney, Potdar, Kothari and now Knoll have all stepped up in turn to plug the holes left by the Zulfiqar exodus, but the bowling remains a vulnerability. Last week Dosti tripled their tally of half-centuries for the season against them, while Marcus Andrew and Stephan Myburgh have shown that a suitably aggressive bat, with good luck and a following wind, can take the ACC attack entirely apart. Such a one is Toby Visee, and with the rest of the HBS line up looking somewhat less vulnerable the skipper may allow himself a measure of freedom come Sunday. “Gotta get Visee early” is such a Topklasse truism at this point that it’s scarcely worth saying, but one feels it is doubly true for ACC.

RL: Both VOC Rotterdam and Excelsior ’20 Schiedam were chasing hard last Sunday when the weather closed in, but the Rotterdammers had to leave Craeyenhout empty- handed while Excelsior were able to escape with a point from their tie at De Diepput. Last season’s encounter between these sides at Hazelaarweg was a hard-fought, ill-tempered affair, and it is to be hoped that the atmosphere is a little more congenial this time. Excelsior owed their point last week to Lorenzo Ingram’s mastery in a tight situation, and they will be hoping he can continue in that vein against VOC, for whom Corey Rutgers’ contributions with the bat are scarcely less crucial. But Ahsan Malik was also impressive against HBS in the unfamiliar role of middle-order batter, while Jelte Schoonheim has been bowling as well as ever. The Schiedammers, of course, are a very young side, but their bowling unit maintained the pressure well against HCC, and if the batters are still gaining experience they have done enough to show that they will eventually blend into a significant line-up.

BdJ: Coming into the season missing the majority of their first team, VOC were keen to downplay their ambitions for the Summer, and fair to say they have lived down to those low expectations. That said, on return from semi-retirement, Rutgers has done a decent job of marshaling the resources available to him. Even if their sole points thus far have come against Dosti, the Belgium head coach has stepped up admirably in the absence of Pieter Seelaar and with Hanif and Malik back for the tail end of the season the Rotterdammers no longer look like walkovers. That said, Seelaar’s absence does rather undermine VOC’s traditional home advantage at the spin-friendly Hazelaarweg, and with Inrgam and Umar Baker (who has plenty of experience at his former home ground) the visitors arguably have an attack better suited to the conditions.

Rod Lyall’s tips: Punjab, Sparta, Voorburg, HBS, Excelsior.
Bertus de Jong’s tips: Punjab, VRA, Voorburg, HBS, Excelsior.

Scorecard | VRA vs VCC | 16.08.20

VRA I Vs Voorburg I
1-Innings Match Played At Amstelveen (VRA), 16-Aug-2020, Topklasse
Voorburg I Win by 6 wkts
Round 7
Toss won by VRA I
Umpires RJ Akram – M Prabhudesai
Scorers K Holdsworth – CC Schinkel
Home Side VRA I
Points Awarded VRA I 0, Voorburg I 2
VRA I 1st Innings 159/10 All Out (Overs 49.1)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
V Singh b AA Qasim 1 7 0 0
ES Szwarczynski c T Nota b PRP Boissevain 32 74 2 0
LA Turmaine b VJ Kingma 0 5 0 0
BN Cooper b BFW de Leede 14 20 3 0
PW Borren* c T Nota b VJ Kingma 26 58 2 0
SR Rasool c R Pieterse b PRP Boissevain 17 37 1 0
U Nashier lbw b PRP Boissevain 14 37 0 0
QWM Gunning c VJ Kingma b PRP Boissevain 1 9 0 0
MB Lees+ b AA Qasim 27 29 2 0
MAK Raja run out 7 21 0 0
A Abid not out 0 0 0 0
extras (b2 lb9 w7 nb2) 20
TOTAL 10 wickets for 159
FOW
1-1(V Singh) 2-4(LA Turmaine) 3-28(BN Cooper) 4-87(ES Szwarczynski) 5-87(PW Borren) 6-122(SR Rasool) 7-124(QWM Gunning) 8-124(U Nashier) 9-158(MAK Raja) 10-159(MB Lees)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
VJ Kingma 9 2 25 2 1 1
AA Qasim 7.1 3 29 2 1 –
BFW de Leede 7 0 19 1 5 –
A Dutt 10 2 24 0 – –
PRP Boissevain 10 1 35 4 – 1
A Razzaqi 6 0 16 0 – –
Voorburg I 1st Innings 163/4 (Overs 48)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Razzaqi lbw b QWM Gunning 14 21 1 0
R Pieterse b V Singh 52 106 3 0
BFW de Leede* c MB Lees b V Singh 34 108 1 0
A Dutt not out 29 32 2 0
PRP Boissevain lbw b MAK Raja 2 5 0 0
VJ Kingma not out 25 16 3 0
FJ de Lange dnb
T Nota+ dnb
AA Qasim dnb
N Kulkarni dnb
S de Leede dnb
extras (b0 lb1 w6 nb0) 7
TOTAL 4 wickets for 163
FOW
1-16(A Razzaqi) 2-99(R Pieterse) 3-116(BFW de Leede) 4-120(PRP Boissevain)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
QWM Gunning 9 2 26 1 1 –
A Abid 3 0 14 0 – –
PW Borren 10 3 25 0 – –
MAK Raja 8 0 39 1 2 –
LA Turmaine 8 1 29 0 2 –
V Singh 8 2 18 2 1 –
U Nashier 2 0 11 0 – –

Scorecard | HCC vs Excelsior | 16.08.20

HCC I Vs Excelsior 20 I
1-Innings Match Played At De Diepput, Den Haag, 16-Aug-2020, Topklasse
Match Tied (DLS)
Round 7
Toss won by HCC I
Umpires D Das – P Muthucumaru
Scorers K Pattiselanno – EM Heggelman
Home Side HCC I
Comment Bad light stopped play; DLS par score from 41 overs 132
Points Awarded HCC I 1, Excelsior 20 I 1
HCC I 1st Innings 171/9 Closed (Overs 50)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
MN Ahmad c LT Ingram b UF Baker 17 42 1 0
AJ Staal* c RWA van Troost b TJ Heggelman 11 25 2 0
DG Crowley c SG Shankar b RWA van Troost 15 19 3 0
BHG Gorlee c NT Etman b LT Ingram 3 16 0 0
FF Vecchi c LT Ingram b RWA van Troost 12 22 2 0
HC Overdijk run out RTF Verhagen 19 46 0 2
C Floyd c&b AK Arun 21 20 1 2
YJ Patel lbw b RWA van Troost 29 58 2 1
LJF Lagas+ c LT Ingram b UF Baker 0 5 0 0
OO Klaus not out 9 19 0 0
J-WM Overdijk not out 19 28 0 1
extras (b2 lb4 w10 nb0) 16
TOTAL 9 wickets for 171
FOW
1-19(AJ Staal) 2-52(MN Ahmad) 3-53(DG Crowley) 4-67(BHG Gorlee) 5-71(FF Vecchi) 6-92(C Floyd) 7-127(HC Overdijk) 8-140(LJF Lagas) 9-141(YJ Patel)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
NT Etman 9 0 33 0 1 –
TJ Heggelman 6 1 28 1 4 –
UF Baker 10 1 15 2 – –
RWA van Troost 10 1 25 3 2 –
LT Ingram 6 1 22 1 – –
AK Arun 3 0 21 1 1 –
JJ van Troost 6 1 21 0 2 –
Excelsior 20 I 1st Innings 132/6 Closed (Overs 41)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
LA Kroesen lbw b OO Klaus 7 33 0 0
RTF Verhagen+ c FF Vecchi b C Floyd 18 42 2 0
NT Etman lbw b OO Klaus 15 31 2 0
J Kroesen lbw b C Floyd 1 4 0 0
LT Ingram not out 45 60 1 2
RWA van Troost lbw b HC Overdijk 6 33 0 0
SG Shankar c YJ Patel b MN Ahmad 13 33 1 0
JJ van Troost Retired Not Out 0 0 0 0
TJ Heggelman* not out 5 10 0 0
UF Baker dnb
AK Arun dnb
extras (b8 lb4 w10 nb0) 22
TOTAL 6 wickets for 132
FOW
1-33(RTF Verhagen) 2-34(LA Kroesen) 3-39(J Kroesen) 4-62(NT Etman) 5-84(RWA van Troost) 6-117(SG Shankar)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
HC Overdijk 7 5 6 1 – –
J-WM Overdijk 5 0 23 0 6 –
C Floyd 8 1 24 2 – –
OO Klaus 10 1 22 2 2 –
DG Crowley 8 2 32 0 – –
MN Ahmad 3 0 13 1 1 –

Scorecard | HBS vs VOC | 16.08.20

HBS I Vs VOC I
1-Innings Match Played At Craeyenhout, Den Haag, 16-Aug-2020, Topklasse
HBS I Win by 6 runs (DLS)
Round 7
Toss won by HBS I
Umpires AND van den Dries – ML Hancock
Scorers MAP Wiegers – CCH Kaulingfreks
Home Side HBS I
Comment Bad light stopped play; DLS par score 228
Points Awarded HBS I 2, VOC I 0
HBS I 1st Innings 251/9 Closed (Overs 50)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
RP Mason c CL Rutgers b BW Hanif 2 16 0 0
TP Visée*+ c CL Rutgers b AAJ Malik 5 5 1 0
JI de Mey c&b AAJ Malik 92 120 9 0
Navjit Singh lbw b JD Schoonheim 64 86 4 2
A Ahmed run out 3 8 0 0
WT Coster c CL Rutgers b JD Schoonheim 11 20 0 0
MM Scholte st TIM de Kok b JD Schoonheim 1 2 0 0
Manjinder Singh c TIM de Kok b JD Schoonheim 10 5 2 0
BFL Boddendijk c CL Rutgers b BW Hanif 15 15 2 0
SP Vink not out 11 12 0 0
SP Geenevasen not out 5 5 0 0
extras (b2 lb3 w27 nb0) 32
TOTAL 9 wickets for 251
FOW
1-12(TP Visée) 2-13(RP Mason) 3-141(Navjit Singh) 4-148(A Ahmed) 5-174(WT Coster) 6-176(MM Scholte) 7-192(Manjinder Singh) 8-231(BFL Boddendijk) 9-239(JI de Mey)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
AAJ Malik 10 0 47 2 6 –
BW Hanif 10 0 51 2 7 –
A Jain 10 2 39 0 – –
JD Schoonheim 10 0 50 4 7 –
SB van Wingerden 5 0 30 0 1 –
H Shah 3 0 17 0 5 –
R Malik 2 0 12 0 1 –
VOC I 1st Innings 222/8 Closed (Overs 45.2)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
MA Durrani c WT Coster b SP Geenevasen 5 0 0 0
DA Hussain b SP Geenevasen 1 0 0 0
TIM de Kok+ c Navjit Singh b SP Geenevasen 0 0 0 0
A Jain run out 9 0 0 0
AAJ Malik b BFL Boddendijk 52 0 0 0
CL Rutgers* c TP Visée b SP Geenevasen 74 0 0 0
JD Schoonheim c JI de Mey b Navjit Singh 20 0 0 0
BW Hanif c TP Visée b Navjit Singh 15 0 0 0
R Malik not out 13 0 0 0
SB van Wingerden not out 2 0 0 0
H Shah dnb
extras (b2 lb5 w23 nb1) 31
TOTAL 8 wickets for 222
FOW
1-2(DA Hussain) 2-6(TIM de Kok) 3-6(MA Durrani) 4-45(A Jain) 5-116(AAJ Malik) 6-151(JD Schoonheim) 7-187(BW Hanif) 8-216(CL Rutgers)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
WT Coster 6.2 0 27 0 3 –
SP Geenevasen 6 2 24 4 1 –
Manjinder Singh 3 0 23 0 3 –
A Ahmed 7 0 34 0 1 –
JI de Mey 8 1 33 0 1 –
SP Vink 4 0 34 0 2 1
BFL Boddendijk 1 0 8 1 3 –
Navjit Singh 10 1 32 2 1 –

Scorecard | Punjab vs Sparta | 16.08.20

Punjab I Vs Sparta I
1-Innings Match Played At Zomercomplex, Rotterdam, 16-Aug-2020, Topklasse
Punjab I Win by 8 wkts
Round 7
Toss won by Punjab I
Umpires N Bathi – DJ Kalloe
Home Side Punjab I
Points Awarded Sparta I 0, Punjab I 2
Sparta I 1st Innings 243/10 All Out (Overs 46.3)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
CP Ambrose b S Tariq 20 21 4 0
L van Wyk b S Tariq 113 106 11 4
A Raza+ b AT Nidamanuru 31 30 3 2
F Iqbal c S Tariq b SM Zulfiqar 9 19 2 0
M Latif lbw b SM Zulfiqar 2 5 0 0
M Singh c MMA Bajwa b AT Nidamanuru 6 11 1 0
JM Snoep* lbw b SA Zulfiqar 1 12 0 0
S Sardha c SA Zulfiqar b AT Nidamanuru 0 5 0 0
MB Hoornweg b S Tariq 9 19 1 0
N Ibrahimkhil not out 19 23 3 0
U Saleem c AT Nidamanuru b AA Zulfiqar 18 30 0 1
extras (b4 lb0 w11 nb0) 15
TOTAL 10 wickets for 243
FOW
1-44(CP Ambrose) 2-108(A Raza) 3-139(F Iqbal) 4-149(M Latif) 5-164(M Singh) 6-171(JM Snoep) 7-174(S Sardha) 8-195(L van Wyk) 9-217(MB Hoornweg) 10-243(U Saleem)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
S Tariq 10 1 64 3 2 –
Y Usman 3 0 19 0 – –
SA Zulfiqar 10 0 60 1 3 –
SM Zulfiqar 10 0 44 2 – –
AT Nidamanuru 10 0 43 3 2 –
AA Zulfiqar 3.3 0 9 1 – –
Punjab I 1st Innings 244/2 (Overs 23.3)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
SJ Myburgh not out 130 60 7 11
RU Zulfiqar c M Singh b F Iqbal 12 16 1 1
AT Nidamanuru c S Sardha b MB Hoornweg 95 65 11 5
AA Zulfiqar not out 0 0 0 0
SM Zulfiqar dnb
SA Zulfiqar dnb
Y Usman dnb
Mudassar Hussain dnb
MMA Bajwa+ dnb
S Tariq* dnb
K Khan dnb
extras (b0 lb1 w5 nb1) 7
TOTAL 2 wickets for 244
FOW
1-25(RU Zulfiqar) 2-243(AT Nidamanuru)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
F Iqbal 4 0 22 1 – –
MB Hoornweg 5.3 0 46 1 3 –
N Ibrahimkhil 1 0 13 0 – –
U Saleem 2 0 37 0 – –
JM Snoep 3 0 22 0 – –
L van Wyk 4 0 30 0 1 –
M Singh 2 0 29 0 1 –
S Sardha 1 0 25 0 – 1
M Latif 1 0 19 0 – –

Scorecard | Dosti vs ACC | 15.08.20

Dosti United I Vs ACC I
1-Innings Match Played At Het Loopveld West, 15-Aug-2020, Topklasse
ACC I Win by 52 runs
Round 7
Toss won by ACC I
Umpires D Das – Z Hussain
Scorers EP Knüpfer
Home Side Dosti United I
Points Awarded ACC I 2, Dosti United I 0
ACC I 1st Innings 291/8 All Out (Overs 50)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
CEM McInerney c AG Dhaduti b M Hans 80 107 5 0
S Kothari c S Ravichandran b W Masood 7 7 1 0
S Potdar c S Ravichandran b VD Grandia 8 22 1 0
CM Knoll c S Ghori b M Hans 107 101 4 6
RK Ramesh Babu c S Ravichandran b M Hans 13 7 0 1
JM Mulready+ c NB Perumal b W Masood 2 3 0 0
RA Kumar c Asief Hoseinbaks b W Masood 30 24 4 0
M van Vliet run out 6 12 0 0
D Arya not out 7 11 0 0
BM te Boekhorst not out 3 6 0 0
MA Raza* dnb
extras (b3 lb3 w19 nb3) 28
TOTAL 8 wickets for 291
FOW
1-21(S Kothari) 2-32(S Potdar) 3-218(CEM McInerney) 4-242(RK Ramesh Babu) 5-242(CM Knoll) 6-251(JM Mulready) 7-279(RA Kumar) 8-283(M van Vliet)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
Asief Hoseinbaks 10 0 52 0 5 –
W Masood 10 1 60 3 2 –
VD Grandia 5 1 30 1 4 –
M Hans 10 1 49 3 – –
SSM Raju 6 0 33 0 – –
S Raji 6 0 32 0 3 –
S Ghori 3 0 29 0 3 –
Dosti United I 1st Innings 239/10 All Out (Overs 49.4)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
S Ghori c RK Ramesh Babu b CEM McInerney 51 73 8 0
W Masood c S Potdar b M van Vliet 5 8 1 0
AG Dhaduti lbw b D Arya 10 22 1 0
M Hans* c JM Mulready b D Arya 59 91 4 1
VD Grandia c JM Mulready b S Potdar 16 25 2 0
S Raji c CEM McInerney b MA Raza 40 41 5 0
S Ravichandran+ c RK Ramesh Babu b D Arya 21 13 0 3
Arief Hoseinbaks c M van Vliet b D Arya 6 11 0 0
NB Perumal c RK Ramesh Babu b MA Raza 1 4 0 0
SSM Raju run out 3 6 0 0
Asief Hoseinbaks not out 2 4 0 0
extras (b6 lb1 w18 nb0) 25
TOTAL 10 wickets for 239
FOW
1-14(W Masood) 2-47(AG Dhaduti) 3-107(S Ghori) 4-135(VD Grandia) 5-184(M Hans) 6-220(S Ravichandran) 7-230(Arief Hoseinbaks) 8-232(NB Perumal) 9-236(S Raji) 10-239(SSM Raju)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
M van Vliet 7 0 43 1 8 –
D Arya 10 1 41 4 – –
RA Kumar 4 0 15 0 2 –
MA Raza 7.4 0 33 2 4 –
CEM McInerney 6 0 16 1 – –
S Kothari 5 0 24 0 – –
S Potdar 4 1 15 1 – –
RK Ramesh Babu 6 0 45 0 – –

Myburgh lights up the Zomercomplex

Rod Lyall 17/08/20

An eventful weekend’s cricket ended in bizarre circumstances on Sunday evening when bad light forced the players from the field at De Diepput with nine overs left and the match between HCC and Excelsior ‘20 hanging in the balance.

Chasing HCC’s 171 for nine, Excelsior had reached 132 for six  with Lorenzo Ingram on  45 not out when play was interrupted, and with heavy rain rolling in the DLS calculations began.

It seemed that, thanks to a sudden onslaught immediately before the stoppage in which ten runs came of Damian Crowley’s final over, including a six by Ingram, Excelsior was exactly on the DLS par score and that the match was therefore tied.

But at the fall of the previous wicket 14-year-old Jelte van Troost had collapsed with cramp on his way to the crease and retired hurt without facing a ball, and the question arose whether his departure represented a seventh wicket.

That led to some intense discussion before it was ruled that of course it didn’t, and that the match had ended in a tie.

It had been hard-fought from the outset, HCC finding runs hard to come by against a disciplined Excelsior attack, and it took a solid 29 from Yash Patel and an unbroken last-wicket stand of 30 between Olivier Klaus and Jan Wieger Overdijk to get them up to a defensible 171.

Excelsior also battled with the bat, but Ingram was the trump card, and he and skipper Tom Heggelman had ensured that the match was dead level when the weather finally intervened.

Things were at a similar point across at Craeyenhout, where almost at the same moment proceedings were halted with VOC Rotterdam just six runs behind the DLS par score in their pursuit of HBS’s 251 for nine.

It had been the home side’s best batting performance of the season, but it was almost entirely due to the innings of Julian de Mey (92) and Navjit Singh (64), who shared a third-wicket partnership of 128.

After Singh departed, trapped in front and the first of four wickets for Jelte Schoonheim, De Mey continued until he was last out, caught and bowled by Ahsan Malik shortly before the end.

Schoonheim finished with four for 50, with two wickets apiece for Malik and Bobby Hanif.

VOC responded at first as they were in a T20, lashing out at everything and quickly subsided to 6 for three, Sander Geenevasen taking all three in the space of eight deliveries without conceding a run.

But Ahsan Malik set about restoring some sanity to the innings, and he and Corey Rutgers put on 71 for the fifth wicket before he was bowled by Benno Boddendijk for 52.

Rutgers continued in tandem first with Schoonheim and then in turn with Hanif and Rohan Malik, and as long as he was at the crease it seemed that VOC might be in with a chance.

Then Geenevasen returned, Rutgers, on 74, edged to Visée at slip, and the balance of the match swung back HBS’s way.

No further wicket fell, but VOC were unable to get their noses in front in the DLS Stakes, and when the players left the field, Geenevasen having taken four for 24, it was HBS who pipped their opponents at the post.

Dramatic as all this was, there was drama of another kind at the Zomercomplex in Rotterdam, where Stef Myburgh continued his dream summer with a chanceless, almost unbelievably destructive, 60-ball 130 not out, sharing a stand of 218 with Teja Nidamanuru which saw Punjab Rotterdam cruise to an eight-wicket victory over Sparta 1888.

Myburgh now has an extraordinary 501 runs in just six innings, with a strike rate of 134.68 and an average of 167.00, and he hit seven fours and 11 sixes in reaching his third century of the season; Nidamanuru was scarcely less damaging, his 95 coming from 65 deliveries with 11 four and five sixes.

Sparta, missing captain Mudassar Bukhari, had set Punjab a reasonable target of 244, mainly thanks to 113 from 106 deliveries from Lenert van Wyk, his first Topklasse century for the club, with Ali Raza contributing 31 and another useful last-wicket from Nasratullah Ibrahimkhil and Usman Saleem.

But with the Zomercomplex’s bijou dimensions and Myburgh’s range-finder in excellent working order it quickly transpired that this was nothing like enough.

Voorburg meanwhile moved level with VRA Amsterdam by virtue of their six-wicket victory over their nearest rivals in the Amsterdamse Bos.

The home side never really settled to their task after Peter Borren, back in charge, elected to bat first, and struggled to 159 all out, Eric Szwarczynski top-scoring with 32 before becoming the first of four victims for Philippe Boissevain.

Borren himself made 26 and keeper Mitch Lees chipped in with 27 towards the end, but the Voorburg attack never let up, Boissevain finishing with four for 35.

But Voorburg’s batsmen found conditions little easier, and with patient innings from Righardt Pieterse (52) and Bas de Leede (34) it took them until the 48th over to reach their target, Aryan Dutt and Viv Kingma showing the necessary aggression to get their side over the line.

On Saturday Dosti-United Amsterdam showed much greater resilience with the bat in their rearranged match against ACC at Het Loopveld West, but still lost their seventh match on the trot.

They had been set an imposing target after ACC posted 291 for eight, Charles McInerney (80) and Chris Knoll (107) putting on 186 for the third wicket to set their side on course for a substantial score.

Waheed Masood and stand-in captain Mahesh Hans took three for 60 and three for 49 respectively.

Half-centuries by Shahdab Ghori and Hans were the core of Dosti’s reply, Sukumar Raji chipping in with 40 as they reached a relatively respectable 239, but Devanshu Arya had his best return of the season with four for 41 and the inning closed 52 runs short.

Gallery | HCC vs Excelsior | 16.08.20

Umpires Das and Muthucumaru testing the wet spot on the pitch
Boris Gorlee with the airblower
Captains’ box
Tonny Staal plays off the hip
Tom Heggelman
Staal swings wildly
Danger outside off for Staal
Musa Ahmed survives his first appeal
Driven by Staal
Ahmed is not interested in the lbw appeal against him
Damian Crawley plays a let-stroke
Niels Etman bowling
Ahmad swings at a wide one
Crowley belts one through cover
Umar Baker
Ahmad takes a quick single
Ahmad plays to the hands of Ingram at gully
Crawley drives square
Boris Gorlee plays a cover drve
Felix Vecchi plays to leg
Boris Gorlee is out caught by first slip Etman
Vecchi on the drive
Ingram takes a blinder and Vecchi is gone
Clayton Floyd plays fine to leg
Floyd puts one on the roof of the pavalion
Hidde Overdijk hits a straight six
Six more for Overdijk
Hidde Overdijk is in fact run out…
…contrary to general opinion. Excellent call Umpire Das!
Jelte van Troost bowling
Jan-Wieger Overdijk plays uppishly to cover
Ollie Klaus hits a four from the backfoot
Hidde Overdijk
A horrible drop from Ollie Klaus
Luuk Kroesen misses a sweep shot…
… and is out lbw
Roel Verhagen goes over the top…
…and Vecchi makes no mistake
Joost Kroesen is lbw to Floyd
Niels Etman hits out
A boundary for Etman
Etman is the third lbw
Celebrations for HCC
Ollie Klaus bowling
Lorenzo Ingram comes out to drive
Rens van Troost is lbw off the hip
Shankar scores a boundary over midwicket
Six into the crowd by Shankar
Shankar works the ball to the leg-side (
Ingram scores in style
As the thunder-storm comes nearer Ingram ups the tempo
Jelte van Troost gets an injury while walking out to bat
Musa Ahmad bowling
In the middle of darkness play continues…
…until lightning makes further play impossible. The match is tied on DLS

Round 7 preview

Bertus de Jong & Rod Lyall 14/08/20

Just like that, the final-phase is upon us. It may seem like the 2020 Topklasse is just barely heating up, but with just three games to go (if that, given the weather forecast) we are very much entering the end-game.

BdJ: Once again the lack of a home ground forces Dosti-United to play a home game at their opponents’ ground, and to move it to Saturday. In this case ACC will be hoping for a positive outcome in the other Amsterdam Derby, when Dosti cross the Amstel to take them on at Het Loopveld. Vinoo Tewarie’s side are still looking for their first win this season, despite the skipper’s own best efforts. Tewarie had another fine game with bat and ball last week but again found little support from his team-mates. An occasional exception has been Waheed Masood, who has become almost as crucial with bat as with ball to his struggling side, but Tewarie will need both him and Mahesh Hans on form, or contribution from an unaccustomed corner if Dosti are to find their first points this Sunday.

RL: ACC are one of clubs who are benefiting from the opportunity to allow their crop of youngsters to flourish, and they will have ample opportunity to do so this week against a less-than-imposing Dosti attack. Not that the Drieburgers can be written off entirely: the pace of Masood and Tewarie’s leg-spin caused VOC problems last week, and with varied spin from Touseef Ahmad, Hans and Asief Hoseinbaks the likes of Shreyas Potdar and Jamieson Mulready will have the chance to practise their technique against slower bowling. ACC’s own attack has shown, notably against Sparta and VOC, that it can run through opposing sides, and Dosti’s capacity for spectacular collapse has been evident on a weekly basis. If Messrs. Duckworth, Lewis and Stern manage to generate a finish, you’d expect it to be in ACC’s favour.

BdJ: In pole position, HCC will be looking to extend their unbeaten streak when they welcome title-holders Excelsior ‘20 Schiedam to de Diepput. Excelsior’s young side are beginning to claw their way back into the mid-table after a tough start to the season, young Stan van Troost recording a maiden top-flight fifty as they saw off HBS last week. The win will doubtless restore some of the Schiedammers’ old confidence, not least in that it was accomplished even without any decisive contribution from Lorenzo Ingram. Nonetheless there’s a reason that HCC are yet to drop a point this season, as illustrated by their utter demolition of Sparta last week. Hidde Overdijk has been in particularly fine form, both with the ball last Sunday and the bat during the “Pro” Series games during the week. Though as with all the games this weekend the weather is the most likely winner, HCC remain solid second-favourites.

RL: HCC’s attack has been the key to their success so far, and Excelsior’s youthful batting line-up is likely to face a stern examination if the weather permits. But Ingram is always lurking in the background, and this could be an occasion for him to turn around what has been by his standards a fairly modest season up to now. By comparison with the bowlers the home side’s batsmen have been less consistent, but Staal, Ahmad, Crowley, Gorlee and Overdijk constitute a menacing top five, and with Felix Vecchi and Yash Patel also having runs under their belts they, too, represent a challenge for Excelsior’s attack.

BdJ: Both HBS Craeyenhout and VOC Rotterdam are playing for pride at this point on one win apiece, both over the hapless Dosti-United. Both sides have been hit hard by the availability issues caused in part by the ongoing pandemic, and the Rotterdammers are also missing skipper Pieter Seelaar. Corey Rutgers has stepped admirably into the gap, and the return of Ahsan Malik and Bobby Hanif have bolstered the bowling at least, but VOC retain the air of a rather cobbled-together outfit. HBS, for their part, have looked persistently reliant on captain Toby Visée, who remains a menace at the top of the order, but his wicket usually signals deep trouble for the Crows. With both sides lacking for any real depth this season one suspects this game may turn on a single stand-out innings or spell, and though it’s hard to predict where it may come from one feels there’s a couple more candidates on the Rotterdam roster, that said, with the rain likely to eat up most if not all the overs, HBS’ top-heavy batting may yet prove an advantage.

RL: Enigmatic seems the best word to described both these outfits: perhaps the absence of any real stakes in this season’s half-competition (read that ‘half’ any way you want) and the fact that both have a preference for the T20 format explain their stuttering efforts as much as the loss of key players, but it may be that the weather plays into their hands by cutting this game to the sort of length they avowedly prefer. Should that happen, as m’learned colleague avers, a Visée or a Jelte Schoonheim, a Ferdi Vink or an Ahsan Malik – whose T20 record is as good as anyone’s – could swing the match either way. Rutgers will no doubt have plenty of ideas about how to neutralise the threat of Visée, but this should be an occasion for cool heads and wise counsels.

BdJ: After being handed their first defeat at Westvliet on Sunday Punjab Rotterdam will be hoping to get back to their winning ways against Sparta 1888 at the Zomercomplex. Two points adrift of HCC, Punjab can’t afford to drop a game now, but despite their shambolic showing against the frontrunners last week Sparta remain something of a banana peel. Lenert van Wyk has mostly shown his stuff in the T20 comp thus far, but his threatening form together with that of Mudassar Bukhari means it will be tough for Punjab to judge what might be a safe score. Nonetheless the Rotterdammers enjoy considerably more depth in the batting at least, and it would be brave to bet against them taking HCC to the line at the business end of the season.

RL: Even more than VOC or HBS, Sparta have blown hot and cold this season, to the extent that it almost seems unpredictable which side will show up. If Bukhari’s in the mood against Punjab at the Zomercomplex there could be fireworks, especially if he can find some batting to keep him company. Ali Raza, too, may start eyeing the shorter boundaries, while Van Wyk adds class to any batting line-up he’s part of. There’s less doubt about the bowling, but even they will be tested by a Punjab side which is equally explosive at the outset and has a solid middle order as well. But yes, even in losing to Voorburg Punjab demonstrated the power of their batting, and Sparta will need to be at their best if they are to compete.

BdJ: Also still in the hunt are VRA, who will be welcoming Voorburg CC to the Bos to watch the rain. They’ll be keen to get on the field if they can though, finally having assembled something close to a full strength side. VCC meanwhile will be missing Tom de Grooth and Stef Mulder, so weather permitting Bas de Leede’s side will be facing a genuine test of depth. De Leede himself has been in fine form, but marshalling a young side as genuine underdogs will be a stiff challenge for the FCoH.

RL: Being more of a glass-half-full sort of person, I persist in the belief that cricket will prevail. That being the case, this looks like the game of the day, with Voorburg, having seen off Punjab, taking on a side which, apart from one aberration against HCC, has also looked the part despite the absence of Peter Borren. Much depends, though, on who is available: it’s a big ask when 17-year-old skipper Vikram Singh is one of the most experienced players in the VRA side, and the attack undoubtedly benefits if Leon Turmaine and/or Adeel Raja is present alongside Quirijn Gunning and the youthful cohort. Voorburg will certainly be weakened by the loss of De Grooth and Mulder, but the new ball attack of Viv Kingma and Ali Ahmed Qasim will put the home side to the test. The hardest of this week’s match-ups to call, but I worry when we’re in total agreement. So . . .

Bertus de Jong’s tips: Rain or ACC, Rain or HCC, Rain or HBS, Rain or Punjab, Rain or VRA.

Rod Lyall’s tips: ACC, HCC, HBS, Punjab, Voorburg.