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Rod Lyall 23/07/18

Recovering from a somewhat shaky, if decidedly lively, start to beat their closest rivals, HBS Craeyenhout by 39 runs on Sunday, VRA Amsterdam set out their stall as the principal challengers to VOC Rotterdam’s run towards this year’s Topklasse title.

As the players left the field, however, the news came through that the leaders had themselves held on for a two-wicket victory over ACC, thus remaining effectively two games ahead in their bid to take the championship for the first time since 1994.

At Craeyenhout, VRA began at a gallop after Emile van den Burg won the toss and elected to bat, maintaining a rate of nearly six an over in the initial powerplay.

But this came at a cost, as Berend Westdijk, battling a shoulder injury, produced a sustained spell of hostile seam bowling, and Eric Szwarczynski, Ben Cooper and Daan ter Braak all fell hooking rising deliveries.

By the twentieth over three more wickets had fallen, including that of surprise inclusion Michael Rippon, and at 89 for six VRA were in some difficulty.

The Amsterdam side bat deep, however, and with Westdijk having completed an excellent spell for figures of four for 49 the innings was rebuilt by Vikram Singh (29), Leon Turmaine (19) and Mitch Lees, the latter top-scoring with a fine 55-ball 44.

Then Quirijn Gunning and Haseeb Gul Mia finished things off with a breezy, unbroken last-wicket partnership, and VRA closed on 226 for nine.

The same pair ripped through the HBS top order once they got the ball in their hands, and with 13 overs the home side had in their turn been reduced to 30 for five, with three wickets for Gunning and two for Haseeb Gul, Lees claiming four catches behind the stumps.

Wesley Barresi and Dennis Coster, the latter having sustained a painful rib injury while fielding, set about restoring HBS’s fortunes, but Coster eventually fell to a fine catch by Gunning at mid-on off Borren’s bowling, and it was left to Barresi to keep his side’s hopes alive, in company with Navjit Singh.

The asking rate was, however, rising, and when Barresi fell to another Gunning catch, this time on the midwicket boundary, as he attempted to push the score along, the chase was effectively over.

Singh and Ferdi Vink added 58 for the eighth wicket in a spirited stand, but by the time Vink fell, caught and bowled by Rippon for 20 at the start of the 47th over, 15 an over was still required.

Singh went on to complete a fine not-out half-century, ending on 55, but a run-out ended the innings on 187. Gunning took three for 26 and Haseeb Gul three for 35.

Leaders VOC Rotterdam were pushed all the way at Het Loopveld West by ACC, but another solid innings from Scott Edwards saw them home with five balls and two wickets in hand.

Anchored by opener Richardt Frenz, who made 82, ACC reached 217 for seven in their fifty overs, with Asad Zulfiqar making 40 and skipper Saqib Zulfiqar contributing a crucial 57 in the latter stages of the innings. Pierce Fletcher was VOC’s main wicket-taker with three for 42.

The Bloodhounds soon lost Corey Rutgers and Dirk van Baren, and then Jelte Schoonheim, when they replied, but their fortunes were at least partially restored by stands of 49 between Max O’Dowd and Pieter Seelaar, and then a further 46 between Seelaar and Edwards.

Once Seelaar was run out by Frenz for 52, however, it was left to Edwards to see his side home, and with support from the lower order he was ultimately successful, making a 66-ball 64 not out in the process.

Dewald Botha kept ACC’s hopes alive with three for 34, including the wicket of Fred Klaassen with 36 still needed, but in the end VOC were just too strong.

In the middle of the table there were wins for Dosti United and Excelsior ‘20, who beat Sparta 1888 and Quick Haag respectively.

Sparta did well to dismiss Dosti for 183 at Sportpark Bermweg, with Mudassar Bukhari and Martijn Snoep taking three for 22 and three for 32 respectively; the first of Bukhari’s three, in his 200th top-flight match, took him into the select company of those bowlers who have claimed 300 wickets in the limited-overs era.

Mohammad Hafeez was again Dosti’s top-scorer with 52, and he and Rahil Ahmed (35) shared in a vital fourth-wicket stand of 92.

That relatively modest total, though, turned out to be plenty as the home side quickly slumped to 38 for five and were finally bowled out for 83, Snoep the most successful of the batsmen with 21. Anees Davids took three for 23 and was also responsible for the vital wicket of Michael Pollard, run out for 12.

Excelsior’s total of 209 for five at Thurlede was mostly due to a 98-run stand between Joost Kroesen (55) and Lorenzo Ingram (57), while another Topklasse returnee, former international Daan van Bunge, chipped in with an unbeaten, 33-ball 39.

Then Rens van Troost ran through the top of the Quick batting, taking four for 29, and only a fifth-wicket partnership of 60 between Geert Maarten Mol (42) and Daan Vierling (37) lent any respectability to the Quick reply.

Once that stand had been broken Gijs Kroesen claimed three for 33 and Ingram two for 12, and Quick were all out for 157, 52 runs short.

But the most dramatic collapse of the day came at De Diepput where bottom-placed Punjab Rotterdam, chasing HCC’s total of 166, found themselves on 5 for four in the space of 10 deliveries, with Stef Myburgh, Ali Raza, Rohan Qadri and Barend Vorster all having come and gone.

That soon became 13 for five, and it took a defiant 41-ball 40 from Yasir Usman to get them up to 105 all out, with Ali Ahmed Qasim claiming three for 21 for the home side.

Ali Ahmed (42) had earlier shared a crucial 67-run partnership of 67 with Hidde Overdijk (47), which enabled their side to set what proved to be an adequate target. Mubashar Hussain took three for 44 for the Rotterdam side.

Rod Lyall 16/07/18

A sustained 15-over spell of hostile fast bowling by VOC’s new-ball pair of Fred Klaassen and Pierce Fletcher, backed up by aggressive fielding, effectively put an end to Excelsior ‘20’s remaining hopes of winning a third successive championship at Hazelaarweg on Sunday, as the Schiedam side, chasing 192, were reduced to 42 for four.

That included the prolific Lorenzo Ingram, caught at slip to give Klaassen his third wicket at a cost of just 13 runs, and it exposed Excelsior’s brittle middle order to the off-spin of Max O’Dowd and the medium pace of Bobby Hanif, which completed the job as Excelsior were dismissed for 83, O’Dowd finishing with four for 25.

David Woutersen showed some resistance, top-scoring with 17, but otherwise was another disappointing day with the bat for the defending champions.

Earlier, they had started well, claiming the wickets of Jelte Schoonheim and Corey Rutgers with just two runs on the board, but then Dirk van Baren (40) and O’Dowd (23) led the fightback, and a splendid innings from Scott Edwards, who made 69 from 82 deliveries with six fours and a six, supported by Umar Baker (21), enabled them to reach 191 for nine.

It turned out to be a very decent total on a day when the bowlers were again often in charge, and it reinforced VOC’s hold on the lead as well as consigning Excelsior to the middle of the table.

The chasing pack, now reduced to two, both maintained the pressure with comfortable victories.

The easier of the two was third-placed VRA’s ten-wicket win in the Amsterdamse Bos against one-time leaders Sparta 1888, which featured an unbroken opening stand of 141 between Daan ter Braak and Eric Szwarczynski.

Sparta had begun well with a first-wicket partnership of 64 between newly-promoted Vikki Rattu (16) and Warren Bell (44), but once they had gone Leon Turmaine and Peter Borren worked their way through the rest of the batting, and the Capelle side were dismissed for 138.

Turmaine finished with four for 26 and Borren four for 30, George Dunlop collecting two for 9 to complete the demolition work.

For the second week in succession Szwarczynski and Ter Braak responded with a century opening partnership; against ACC the latter had been dismissed with his side on the brink of victory, but this time they completed the job in style.

Szwarczynski ended on 65, made from 89 deliveries with 10 fours, his partner on 63 from 87 deliveries with five boundaries.

At Het Zomercomplex, Punjab Rotterdam lost Ali Raza and Barend Vorster before they had a run on the board, and although Stef Myburgh contributed another aggressive 41 and later Yasir Usman produced an equally hard-hitting 43, the home side could only manage 135 against a determined HBS Craeyenhout.

Wessel Coster, who took those two early wickets, claimed two more to finish with four for 28, while Farshad Khan took three for 41.

Raza then made up for his lack of success with the bat by taking four catches when HBS replied, and with Vorster taking three for 29 the visitors were in a degree of trouble at 92 for five.

But Wesley Barresi was still there, in company with Dennis Coster, and these two knocked off the remaining runs without further alarms; Barresi made an unbeaten 40, from 32 deliveries with five fours and a six, while his partner ended on 17 not out.

Dosti United could once again thank Taruwar Kohli’s bat for their 13-run victory over ACC at Sportpark Drieburg: he made 62 out of their total of 177, and shared in an 83-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Hafeez (39).

Skipper Saqib Zulfiqar was the most successful of the ACC bowlers with three for 40, and he completed a fine double with a knock of 67, sharing in a even more productive stand of 99 for the fourth wicket with Richardt Frenz (60).

When Kohli had Frenz caught behind it was left to Zulfiqar to continue the chase with 48 still needed, but with wickets tumbling at the other end, Hafeez taking four for 30 in another decisive spell, he was eventually dismissed himself, and despite a defiant 18 from Dewald Botha the ACC innings ended on 164.

Quick Haag took a crucial step away from the relegation danger zone with a hard-fought 27-run win against HCC at De Diepput.

Another fine innings from Jay Bista, who made 77 at better than a run a ball, was the foundation of HCC’s total of 193 – the highest score of the day – with Geert Maarten Mol chipping in with 29 and Govert Trappenburg with 25.

Ryan Ninan took three for 30 and Bryce Street three for 39 for the nominal visitors, and both then proved the backbone of their side’s batting. Ninan, opening, made 72 and Street 46, but those apart only Tonny Staal (19) was able to reach double figures.

The destroyers for Quick were Pieter Groenewald with four for 40 and Mol with four for 30, and despite Street’s rearguard battle HCC were dismissed for 166.