Three more centuries in the second round of Topklasse matches on Saturday brought the total to six in nine games, suggesting that there may be a vintage season for batsmen in prospect.
The most encouraging from a Dutch point of view was Shirase Rasool’s maiden hundred for ACC against Quick Haag, while the most remarkable was perhaps Rupert Young’s in reply. The most predictable was that by Taruwar Kohli for Dosti United against HCC although, like Young’s, it proved to be in a losing cause.
Three sides made it two out of two on Saturday, with ACC the initial leaders on net run rate, followed by Excelsior ’20 and HBS Craeyenhout.
In the only match between first-round winners, Excelsior firmly deflated Voorburg’s balloon, beating the promoted side by seven wickets at Westvliet.
Electing to bat first, Voorburg appeared to be coasting at the first drinks break, having reached 82 for two and with last week’s centurion Matt Smit well set on 44.
But then Excelsior skipper Tom Heggelman turned from seam to spin, and in eight overs of complete mayhem the home side subsided to 94 for seven.
Umar Baker collected three of those wickets, going on to clean up the innings and finish with six for 46, but it was Lorenzo Ingram who removed the dangerous Smit, who had added just two more before he had the misfortune to glove a delivery which deflected from his pad as he tried to sweep, into the hands of Branton Parchment, lurking at slip.
There was some late resistance from Brandon Glover and Yasir Hamid, but in a disappointingly irresolute effort overall Voorburg were dismissed for 144.
Glover and Clayton Floyd looked dangerous when Excelsior replied, but a single wicket for the former was their only reward. Without ever seeming really comfortable Tim Etman played a crucial innings for his side, helped by a couple of missed chances, and in partnerships with Ingram – eventually forced to retire hurt after taking one in the ribs from Viv Kingma – and Parchment he steered them towards the win.
He eventually fell to a catch at slip by Tom de Grooth after Glover returned, but he had made 81 and only six were now needed, Joost Kroesen and Heggelman finishing the job with more than 16 overs remaining.
Razool scores over cow
On the new artificial outfield at Nieuw Hanenburg ACC enhanced their run rate standing with a comprehensive 102-run victory over Quick Haag, built on a second-wicket partnership of 125 between Rehmat Zulfiqar, who made an aggressive 80, and Rasool.
The youngster has served a long apprenticeship, but in following up his fifty last week with an unbeaten 117 he reaped the reward for the hard work he has reportedly been doing over the winter.
Jean Marais contributed a quick 32, and ACC closed on 290 for seven.
Quick were soon in trouble with Bob van Gigch, Lesley Stokkers and Geert Maarten Mol all dismissed cheaply, but Young, after a cautious start, suddenly unleashed an extraordinary attack on the ACC bowlers, cracking six sixes in five overs and racing from 27 to 64.
Three more followed before he eventually fell to Aryan Kumar for 115, made at better than a run a ball, and Quick were all out for 188, with Brady Barends, Anis Raza, Devanchu Arya and Shreyas Potdar collecting a brace of wickets apiece.
HBS were also relatively untroubled in maintaining their unbeaten record, with a 72-run victory over Sparta 1888 at Sportpark Bermweg.
They got off to another flying start with an opening stand of 97 inside 17 overs, 74 coming from the bat of Tobias Visée, who faced just 43 deliveries and smashed ten fours and three sixes.
His partner, Zac Elkin, was much more circumspect, taking 117 balls to make his 58, but with Sharn Gomes and Navjit Singh going cheaply and Wesley Barresi making only 27, it took a brisk 31 from Zak Gibson to get the total up to 242.
Max Hoornweg and Usman Saleem claimed three wickets each, for 41 and 35 respectively.
Wessel Coster and Berend Westdijk, sharing the new ball, struck back for HBS, and at 39 for three Sparta were soon in trouble.
As they had against Voorburg, Mudassar Bukhari (35) and Atse Buurman (27) leant some solidity to the middle order, but once Westdijk had removed Bukhari and Barresi had accounted for Buurman the Sparta reply fell away, only skipper Joost Martijn Snoep’s unbeaten 24 enabling them to reach 170.
Westdijk finished with three for 20, with the spinners Julian de Mey and Barresi collecting a couple of wickets each.
The most exciting match of the day saw HCC snatch a final-over three-wicket victory over Dosti United, half-centuries by Adam Wiffen and Bryce Street enabling them to overhaul Dosti’s 229 for nine with two balls to spare.
Taruwar Kohli’s 108 not out was the highlight of Dosti’s innings, only opener Rahil Ahmed (42) and skipper Vinoo Tewarie (33) offering significant support.
The Amsterdam side were well placed at 140 for two, but once Tewarie had gone they lost their way, and with Hidde Overdijk taking four for 43 it was Kohli’s 126-ball innings which enabled them to set a decent total.
A 93-run stand between Wiffen (50) and Street (63) meant that HCC, too, reached 142 for two, but once they had been removed, by Kuldeep Diwan and Amitose Singh respectively, the home side’s middle order likewise failed to maintain the momentum, and it took hard-hitting cameos by Douwe Walhain and Ali Ahmed Qasim, the former finishing the game off with a winning six, to see their side to victory.
With VRA and VOC postponing their fixture this week until July 20th, we’ve just the four matches coming up on Saturday for the 2nd round of the Topklasse season. Though Dosti and HCC considered playing their fixture on VRA’s second ground, the match has instead been relocated to de Diepput, leaving the capital bereft of top division cricket this weekend.
BdJ:Coming off a nail-biting rain-affected win over last year’s champions VOC, which was eventually decided by a DLS margin of just one run, Dosti-United, in lieu of home advantage, will be hoping to carry some momentum into their game against HCC, who sank to a 6-wicket defeat away at HBS last week thanks in large part to the efforts of centurion Wesley Barresi. New acquisition Adam Wiffen had racked up an unbeaten ton of his own in that match, hitting 135 off 128 on Topklasse debut, a promising start for the 21 year-old who HCC will hope can fill the hole left by Jonathan Vandiar. Though HCC’s seam attack were made to look rather toothless by the rampant Barresi, they nonetheless picked up early wickets against a strong HBS top order, and could well do the same against Dosti’s historically more brittle line-up. Taru Kohli’s will be the wicket they want the most, though skipper Vinoo Tewarie was the man who saw his side home last week, knuckling down with the middle order to strike an unbeaten and eventually match-winning 47 off 71. Dosti will hope that Tewarie’s innings was a sign of things to come, and that the Amsterdammers’ local cohort can step up this season, to compensate for the club’s more conservative overseas acquisition strategy.
RL: With four overseas players in their line-up – Indians Taruwar Kohli, Amitoze Singh and Kuldeep Diwan and South African Anees Davids – Dosti are making full use of the collapse of the KNCB’s restrictions. While that wasn’t the decisive factor last week, it will no doubt stand them in good stead this season. HCC, though, also have four imports: Dutch resident Bharat Itagi, Dutch passport holder Adam Wiffen, Bryce Street and Matt Hay, and with their home-grown contingent looking more and more at home in the Topklasse, they, too, will be a force to be reckoned with. Barresi’s match-winning knock did emphasise the limitations of HCC’s attack, but in other respects the two Den Haag sides were pretty evenly matched until Barresi cut loose, and this may prove to be another hard-fought encounter.
BdJ: Meanwhile HBS Craeyenhout travel to Bermweg to take on Sparta 1888, who sank to a 25-run defeat at the hands of former Hoofdklasse rival VCC last week. Twin ducks from Sparta’s overseas signings Andrew Fletcher and Garnett Tarr did not help their cause at Voorburg, though one suspects the pair will acclimatise to Dutch conditions in time. The rest of the batting order at least have runs under their belt though, Mudassar Bukhari’s battling 47 keeping them in the game into the death last week. The seam attack’s lack of penetration will be more of a worry however, especially against an HBS top order that can quickly put the game beyond reach if early wickets fail to come.
RL: HBS were title contenders for much of last season, and with Sharn Gomes joined by lively seamer Zak Gibson and batsman Zac Elkin they will certainly not be less of a handful this time round. Gomes is a known quantity, and if none of the trio played a decisive part against HCC they all fitted into a side which is a well-balanced unit. Navjit Singh’s composed knock suggests that he is developing into a valuable allrounder, and the seam attack of which he is a quarter will trouble many opposing batsmen. Sparta, on the other hand, struggled to get into the game against a powerful Voorburg unit, and will be hoping that Fletcher and Tarr are able to play significant innings in their initial home match. The Sparta attack was able to make little impression on Voorburg’s top order, but it may be a different proposition at traditionally bowler-friendly Bermweg.
BdJ: Toward the top of the nascent table Voorburg CC will welcome Excelsior ‘20 to Westvliet, both sides looking to go two-from-two. Excelsior looked far from convincing last week on their way to a four wicket win over a Quick Haag side still waiting on their pros, but new signing Brenton Parchment seems to have taken to Dutch conditions like a duck to Dutch conditions. His all-round performance was the difference on Saturday in an otherwise forgettable encounter, though Umar Baker also did himself credit on debut at Thurlede. The question remains whether they will be able to trouble the thoroughly-acclimatised Matt Smit, who showed every sign of carrying over his intimidating form in the Hoofdklasse last season into the top flight. Smit’s 137-ball 110 meant much of the VCC batting remains untested in the Topklasse, though Noah Croes and Steve Nottle also looked unperturbed by the step up in divisions.
RL: Voorburg were indeed impressive on their return to the top flight, and Excelsior face a stiff test on their visit to Westvliet. With Parchment joining Lorenzo Ingram in Schiedam in succession to James Hilditch Excelsior have resisted the temptation to increase their overseas contingent, preferring to rely upon the ‘class of 2016’ who won them back-to-back championships. They may not have been at top pitch in last week’s miserable conditions, but they will certainly let us see whether Voorburg are as strong as they appeared to be in their victory over Sparta. Their reliance on their overseas players and the inconsistency of their top and middle order were issues even in Excelsior’s title-winning seasons, and they will need to resolve them if they are again to be in the mix for this year’s championship.
BdJ: Finally ACC will travel to Nieuw Hanenburg to take on Quick Haag who will start as underdogs in their own yard, looking for their first win and hoping to get it without the aid of the nigh-indispensable Jay Bista and his fellow Mumbaiker Prathamesh Dake. Stand-in overseas Rupert Young and Pieter Groenewald managed only ten runs between them last week, though the rest of the side’s performance was more promising than it appears on a scorecard. New skipper Daan Vierling, especially, showed some fight down the order as he dragged his side into three figures with the help of Doc Mol and Thijs van Schelven, the latter also looking back to his old self with the ball, giving away just 18 from his 8 overs and eventually bagging the wicket of match-winner Parchment, albeit by then too late. ACC will be riding high after their victory in the Amsterdam Derby last week, and the performances of youngsters Arjan Kumar and Shirase Rasool especially are a cause for optimism for the coming season. The Amsterdammers also have the advantage of their two overseas players having arrived in timely fashion, Bardy Barends’ return of 2-29 last week suggesting he knows what he’s about on a mat and Jean Marais still yet to lose his wicket in the unfamiliar conditions.
RL: Indeed, the decisive contributions of Kumar and Rasool last week suggested that ACC’s youth policy may be starting to bear fruit, and with Quick still waiting for Bista and Dake the home side will have to raise their game significantly on their new, artificial turf. The Haantjes don’t lack experience, but the old guard have struggled to hold their own in the top flight over the past year, and they will need to be at their best against the emerging talent of the Amsterdam side. It might be an exaggeration to see this game as an intergenerational battle, especially since ACC looked a more balanced outfit against VRA than they did last season and Quick have a couple of youngsters of their own, but Quick’s old hands such as Geert Maarten Mol, Lesley Stokkers and Jeroen Brand will have a lot resting on their shoulders as they attempt to hold the fort until reinforcements arrive from Mumbai.
TKcricket 