Scorecard | VCC vs Sparta | 20.05.23

Voorburg I Vs Sparta I
1-Innings Match Played At Westvliet, Voorburg, 20-May-2023, Topklasse
Voorburg I Win by 9 wkts
Round 1/7
Toss won by Sparta I
Umpires RJ Akram – G Sebola
Scorers CC Schinkel – AO Smelt
Home Side Voorburg I
Points Awarded Sparta I 0, Voorburg I 2
Sparta I 1st Innings 132/10 All Out (Overs 29.5)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Raza+ c PRP Boissevain b R Klein 42 39 6 2
SR Ferguson c MN Ahmad b PRP Boissevain 34 42 4 2
G Tarr c NRJ Croes b S Ahmad 2 9 0 0
M Bukhari c N Gigani b PRP Boissevain 15 30 2 0
WJ Clark lbw b S Ahmad 4 9 0 0
J Kroesen c SA Engelbrecht b S Ahmad 7 11 1 0
K Ahmadi   b S Ahmad 3 5 0 0
AAJ Malik c MN Ahmad b PRP Boissevain 7 9 1 0
Manminder Singh   b PRP Boissevain 0 3 0 0
U Saleem not out   9 17 1 0
JM Snoep* lbw b S Ahmad 2 5 0 0
extras   (b0 lb5 w2 nb0) 7      
TOTAL   10 wickets for 132      
FOW
1-60(A Raza) 2-74(G Tarr) 3-82(SR Ferguson) 4-87(WJ Clark) 5-99(J Kroesen) 6-111(K Ahmadi) 7-113(M Bukhari) 8-113(Manminder Singh) 9-125(AAJ Malik) 10-132(JM Snoep)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
R Klein 5 0 33 1
VJ Kingma 4 0 13 0 1
MC van Vliet 4 0 27 0
S Ahmad 8.5 2 19 5
PRP Boissevain 8 1 35 4 1
Voorburg I 1st Innings 135/1 (Overs 21.1)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
ML Levitt c Manminder Singh b M Bukhari 14 25 2 0
N Gigani not out   81 58 10 3
NRJ Croes+ not out   37 44 4 1
MN Ahmad dnb          
SA Engelbrecht* dnb          
S Ahmad dnb          
R Klein dnb          
VJ Kingma dnb          
PRP Boissevain dnb          
MC van Vliet dnb          
SF de Leede dnb          
extras   (b0 lb1 w2 nb0) 3      
TOTAL   1 wickets for 135      
FOW
1-33(ML Levitt)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
AAJ Malik 3 0 20 0
M Bukhari 3.3 1 11 1
WJ Clark 2 0 11 0 1
U Saleem 4.3 0 16 0
K Ahmadi 2 0 15 0 1
J Kroesen 4.1 0 37 0
Manminder Singh 2 0 24 0

Scorecard | Sparta vs VRA | 18.05.23

Sparta I Vs VRA I
1-Innings Match Played At Sportpark Bermweg, Capelle a/d IJssel, 18-May-2023, Topklasse
Sparta I Win by 2 wkts
Round 1/6
Toss won by Sparta I
Umpires M French – WPM van Liemt
Scorers AO Smelt – KA Holdsworth
Home Side Sparta I
Points Awarded VRA I 0, Sparta I 2
VRA I 1st Innings 228/8 Closed (Overs 50)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
SR Rasool c A Raza b K Ahmadi 18 33 1 1
V Singh   b M Bukhari 28 45 3 1
J Smal c AAJ Malik b WJ Clark 34 48 6 0
AT Nidamanuru c WJ Clark b K Ahmadi 36 69 2 0
TJ van Luin   b K Ahmadi 28 49 1 1
A Dutt run out SR Ferguson/K Ahmadi   55 40 3 2
J Balbirnie c J Kroesen b K Ahmadi 6 9 0 0
MDS Peiris+ not out   2 4 0 0
E Visser c M Latif b K Ahmadi 4 4 0 0
LA Turmaine* dnb          
A Abid dnb          
extras   (b1 lb5 w10 nb1) 17      
TOTAL   8 wickets for 228      
FOW
1-54(SR Rasool) 2-58(V Singh) 3-106(J Smal) 4-142(AT Nidamanuru) 5-193(TJ van Luin) 6-212(J Balbirnie) 7-222(A Dutt) 8-228(E Visser)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
AAJ Malik 10 0 48 0 2
M Bukhari 10 0 37 1 6
K Ahmadi 10 0 47 5 1 1
JM Snoep 8 0 38 0 1
WJ Clark 8 1 31 1
J Kroesen 4 0 21 0
Sparta I 1st Innings 229/8 (Overs 49)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Raza+ c J Smal b TJ van Luin 4 9 0 0
SR Ferguson c MDS Peiris b A Abid 12 22 2 0
G Tarr c TJ van Luin b A Abid 13 24 2 0
M Bukhari c J Smal b A Abid 1 10 0 0
WJ Clark c SR Rasool b E Visser 3 4 0 0
J Kroesen not out   88 120 6 2
M Latif c AT Nidamanuru b E Visser 10 6 1 0
AAJ Malik   b A Dutt 20 59 0 0
K Ahmadi c MDS Peiris b E Visser 36 21 1 4
JM Snoep* not out   16 23 1 0
PB Balwantsingh dnb          
extras   (b0 lb6 w16 nb4) 26      
TOTAL   8 wickets for 229      
FOW
1-7(A Raza) 2-24(SR Ferguson) 3-34(M Bukhari) 4-37(WJ Clark) 5-41(G Tarr) 6-64(M Latif) 7-140(AAJ Malik) 8-198(K Ahmadi)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
A Abid 10 3 27 3 1
TJ van Luin 10 0 50 1 4 1
E Visser 10 0 49 3 3 1
A Dutt 10 0 55 1 5
V Singh 2 0 11 0 1 2
LA Turmaine 7 0 31 0

Scorecard | Sparta vs VOC | 13.05.23

Sparta I Vs VOC I
1-Innings Match Played At Sportpark Bermweg, Capelle a/d IJssel, 13-May-2023, Topklasse
Sparta I Win by 6 wkts
Round 1/5
Toss won by Sparta I
Umpires RJ Akram – MA Din
Home Side Sparta I
Points Awarded VOC I 0, Sparta I 2
VOC I 1st Innings 117/10 All Out (Overs 35.2)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
MP O’Dowd c WJ Clark b AAJ Malik 2 9 0 0
Arnav Jain lbw b JM Snoep 13 40 0 0
LP Berry   b AAJ Malik 18 19 4 0
SA Edwards   b AAJ Malik 3 10 0 0
TIM de Kok*   b AAJ Malik 0 7 0 0
F Fourie+   b K Ahmadi 26 32 2 1
B Niaz   b J Kroesen 18 40 2 0
JD Schoonheim c SR Ferguson b J Kroesen 14 21 0 0
RR Upadhyaya lbw b AAJ Malik 8 15 0 0
Asief Hoseinbaks not out   2 13 0 0
MB Hoornweg c A Raza b WJ Clark 1 6 0 0
extras   (b0 lb1 w11 nb0) 12      
TOTAL   10 wickets for 117      
FOW
1-2(MP O’Dowd) 2-31(LP Berry) 3-35(SA Edwards) 4-38(TIM de Kok) 5-46(Arnav Jain) 6-90(F Fourie) 7-92(B Niaz) 8-107(RR Upadhyaya) 9-116(JD Schoonheim) 10-117(MB Hoornweg)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
AAJ Malik 10 2 30 5 1
M Bukhari 10 1 39 0 4
JM Snoep 4 1 14 1 3
K Ahmadi 6 1 18 1 2
J Kroesen 4 0 12 2
WJ Clark 1.2 0 3 1
Sparta I 1st Innings 118/4 (Overs 18.5)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Raza+ c MB Hoornweg b Arnav Jain 6 7 1 0
SR Ferguson lbw b MB Hoornweg 12 10 3 0
G Tarr   b Asief Hoseinbaks 57 54 4 4
M Bukhari c MP O’Dowd b RR Upadhyaya 6 18 1 0
WJ Clark not out   26 18 4 1
J Kroesen not out   5 7 0 0
PB Balwantsingh dnb          
AAJ Malik dnb          
K Ahmadi dnb          
Manminder Singh dnb          
JM Snoep* dnb          
extras   (b0 lb1 w4 nb1) 6      
TOTAL   4 wickets for 118      
FOW
1-15(A Raza) 2-19(SR Ferguson) 3-66(M Bukhari) 4-103(G Tarr)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
Arnav Jain 5 1 30 1 1
MB Hoornweg 5 0 30 1 1 1
RR Upadhyaya 3 0 25 1 2
Asief Hoseinbaks 4.5 0 26 1
JD Schoonheim 1 0 6 0

Scorecard | Sparta vs Excelsior | 07.05.23

Sparta I Vs Excelsior I
1-Innings Match Played At Sportpark Bermweg, Capelle a/d IJssel, 7-May-2023, Topklasse
Sparta I Win by 3 wickets
Round 1
Toss won by Sparta I
Umpires M Prabhudesai, J Westerberg
Scorers  
Home Side Sparta I
Points Awarded Sparta I 2, Exceslior I 0
Excelsior I 1st Innings 221/9 closed (overs 50)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
TC Etman* c M Bukhari b AAJ Malik 0 4 0 0
TJ Heggelman lbw b WJ Clark 23 61 1 0
RTF Verhagen c A Raza b WJ Clark 70 124 2 2
M Hart   b WJ Clark 44 38 4 0
LT Ingram c WJ Clark b AAJ Malik 27 27 2 0
NT Etman   c&b K Ahmadi 6 17 0 0
SL van Troost+ c G Tarr b K Ahmadi 12 6 0 1
RWA van Troost c WJ Clark b K Ahmadi 6 8 0 0
LA Kroesen c A Raza b JM Snoep 1 3 0 0
UF Baker not out   5 7 0 0
GG Kroesen not out   2 5 0 0
extras   (b0 lb5 w20 nb0) 25      
TOTAL   9 wickets for 221      
FOW
0-1 TC Etman, 87-2 TJ Heggelman, 143-3 RTF Verhagen, 179-4 M Hart, 191-5 LT Ingram, 195-6 NT Etman, 210-7 SL van Troost, 212-8 RWA van Troost, 216-9 LA Kroesen 
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
AAJ Malik 10.0 1 43 2 1 0
K Ahmadi 8.0 1 35 3 6 0
M Bukhari 10.0 2 20 0 5 0
JM Snoep 10.0 0 42 1 4 0
WJ Clark 10.0 0 57 3 1 0
J Kroesen 2.0 0 19 0 2 0
Sparta I 1st Innings 222/7 Closed (Overs 44.3)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Raza+ c LA Kroesen b M Hart 13 8 3 0
SR Ferguson c UF Baker b LT Ingram 37 28 8 0
G Tarr c TJ Heggelman b UF Baker 45 44 7 1
M Bukhari   b LT Ingram 47 85 3 1
WJ Clark   b RWA van Troost 31 57 3 0
J Kroesen not out   25 32 4 0
M Latif c RTF Verhagen b LT Ingram 0 2 0 0
K Ahmadi   b TJ Heggelman 4 6 0 0
AAJ Malik not out   8 6 2 0
JM Snoep* dnb          
Manminder Singh dnb          
extras   (b0 lb3 w8 nb1) 12      
TOTAL   7 wickets for 222      
FOW
24-1 A Raza, 75-2 SR Ferguson, 111-3 G Tarr, 168-4 WJ Clark, 197-5 M Bukhari, 197-6 M Latif, 207-7 K Ahmadi
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
M Hart 6.0 0 48 1 3 0
TJ Heggelman 6.0 0 32 1 2 0
NT Etman 2.3 0 40 0 1 0
LT Ingram 10.0 4 16 3 1 0
UF Baker 10.0 1 44 1 0 0
LA Kroesen 3.0 0 9 0 0 0
GG Kroesen 4.0 0 17 0 0 0
RWA van Troost 3.0 0 13 1 1 0

Scorecard | ACC vs Sparta | 06.05.23

ACC I Vs Sparta I
1-Innings Match Played At Het Loopveld West, 06-May-2023, Topklasse
ACC I Win by 6 wkts
Round 1/4
Toss won by Sparta I
Umpires MA Din – M Prabhudesai
Home Side ACC I
Points Awarded Sparta I 0, ACC I 2
Sparta I 1st Innings 222/8 Closed (Overs 50)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Raza+ c TG Hobson b JS Reddy 5 10 1 0
SR Ferguson c M Hans b D Arya 53 89 5 1
G Tarr   b RA Kumar 2 8 0 0
M Bukhari c M Hans b D Arya 19 54 2 0
WJ Clark c MA Raza b RA Kumar 32 39 4 0
J Kroesen not out   50 61 0 2
AAJ Malik c RI Ahmed b RA Kumar 0 2 0 0
Manminder Singh c TG Hobson b JS Reddy 0 4 0 0
F Bashir lbw b JS Reddy 1 4 0 0
K Ahmadi not out   48 30 2 4
JM Snoep* dnb          
extras   (b1 lb0 w10 nb1) 12      
TOTAL   8 wickets for 222      
FOW
1-6(A Raza) 2-24(G Tarr) 3-81(M Bukhari) 4-92(SR Ferguson) 5-127(WJ Clark) 6-127(AAJ Malik) 7-128(Manminder Singh) 8-134(F Bashir)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
RA Kumar 10 3 49 3 7
JS Reddy 9 0 32 3 1 1
TG Hobson 10 0 47 0 1
A Zaidi 9 1 43 0
D Arya 9 1 27 2 1
M Hans 1 0 3 0
Z Master 2 0 20 0
ACC I 1st Innings 223/4 (Overs 45.3)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
RI Ahmed+ lbw b JM Snoep 24 47 2 0
S Potdar c J Kroesen b M Bukhari 89 116 7 1
TG Hobson c M Bukhari b Manminder Singh 42 48 2 1
HG Kuhn* c F Bashir b AAJ Malik 20 22 2 0
MA Raza not out   13 29 0 0
M Hans not out   15 13 0 1
RA Kumar dnb          
A Zaidi dnb          
JS Reddy dnb          
D Arya dnb          
Z Master dnb          
extras   (b0 lb2 w16 nb2) 20      
TOTAL   4 wickets for 223      
FOW
1-49(RI Ahmed) 2-140(TG Hobson) 3-177(S Potdar) 4-195(HG Kuhn)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
AAJ Malik 10 1 44 1 5
WJ Clark 7 0 36 0 3 1
K Ahmadi 8 1 20 0 1
JM Snoep 7 0 28 1
F Bashir 1 0 12 0 1
J Kroesen 3 0 18 0
Manminder Singh 3 0 31 1
M Bukhari 6.3 0 32 1 3

Scorecard | Sparta vs Punjab | 30.04.23

Sparta I Vs Punjab I
1-Innings Match Played At Sportpark Bermweg, Capelle a/d IJssel, 30-Apr-2023, Topklasse
Sparta I Win by 59 runs
Round 1/3
Toss won by Sparta I
Umpires WPM van Liemt – JP Wentink
Home Side Sparta I
Points Awarded Sparta I 2, Punjab I 0
Sparta I 1st Innings 211/8 Closed (Overs 50)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Raza+   b S Tariq 8 9 1 0
SR Ferguson lbw b S Tariq 13 27 2 0
G Tarr   b A Mahmood 41 89 6 0
M Bukhari st AA Zulfiqar b M Shafiq 72 99 2 3
WJ Clark c SA Minhas b Mubashar Hussain 24 35 2 0
K Ahmadi c Mubashar Hussain b SA Zulfiqar 34 26 0 4
J Kroesen c Y Usman b SA Zulfiqar 3 3 0 0
PB Balwantsingh   b SA Zulfiqar 0 2 0 0
Manminder Singh not out   4 6 0 0
AAJ Malik not out   2 4 0 0
JM Snoep* dnb          
extras   (b0 lb2 w8 nb0) 10      
TOTAL   8 wickets for 211      
FOW
1-9(A Raza) 2-29(SR Ferguson) 3-94(G Tarr) 4-141(WJ Clark) 5-192(M Bukhari) 6-201(J Kroesen) 7-201(PB Balwantsingh) 8-208(K Ahmadi)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
S Tariq 10 4 27 2 1
Mubashar Hussain 7 2 33 1 2
M Shafiq 10 2 61 1 2
SM Zulfiqar 10 1 32 0
A Mahmood 10 0 48 1 2
SA Zulfiqar 3 0 8 3 1
Punjab I 1st Innings 152/10 All Out (Overs 36)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
RU Zulfiqar c A Raza b AAJ Malik 0 4 0 0
AA Zulfiqar+ lbw b K Ahmadi 12 32 1 0
M Riaz not out   91 121 13 1
SA Zulfiqar   b WJ Clark 0 3 0 0
SA Minhas c M Bukhari b WJ Clark 0 1 0 0
SM Zulfiqar   b AAJ Malik 27 33 2 0
A Mahmood lbw b AAJ Malik 0 1 0 0
Y Usman c A Raza b K Ahmadi 5 6 1 0
M Shafiq c J Kroesen b K Ahmadi 2 5 0 0
Mubashar Hussain   b AAJ Malik 0 3 0 0
S Tariq*   b K Ahmadi 0 7 0 0
extras   (b0 lb1 w14 nb0) 15      
TOTAL   10 wickets for 152      
FOW
1-0(RU Zulfiqar) 2-36(AA Zulfiqar) 3-37(SA Zulfiqar) 4-39(SA Minhas)5-114(SM Zulfiqar) 6-114(A Mahmood) 7-119(Y Usman) 8-130(M Shafiq) 9-131(Mubashar Hussain) 10-152(S Tariq)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
AAJ Malik 10 2 35 4 2
M Bukhari 5 1 14 0 5
K Ahmadi 9 1 42 4 3
WJ Clark 5 0 26 2 2
JM Snoep 4 0 16 0 2
J Kroesen 3 0 18 0

Scorecard | Sparta vs Excelsior | 22.04.23

Sparta I Vs Excelsior 20 I
1-Innings Match Played At Sportpark Bermweg, Capelle a/d IJssel, 22-Apr-2023, Topklasse
No result
Round 1/1
Toss won by Excelsior 20 I
Umpires MA Din – E Ruchtie
Scorers AO Smelt – EM Heggelman
Home Side Sparta I
Comment Rain stopped play, Sparta 92-3 (28 overs), match reduced to 38 overs. Rain again stopped play, Sparta 143-5 (34.4 overs).
Sparta I 1st Innings 143/5 (Overs 34.4)
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
M Latif c LT Ingram b NT Etman 0 2 0 0
SR Ferguson+ c TJ Heggelman b M Hart 3 25 0 0
G Tarr   b NT Etman 7 10 1 0
M Bukhari not out   50 96 3 0
WJ Clark c M Hart b UF Baker 54 63 6 0
J Kroesen c LT Ingram b M Hart 11 14 0 0
AAJ Malik dnb          
K Ahmadi dnb          
Manminder Singh dnb          
JM Snoep* dnb          
N Ibrahimkhil dnb          
extras   (b1 lb1 w14 nb2) 18      
TOTAL   5 wickets for 143      
FOW
1-0(M Latif) 2-8(G Tarr) 3-13(SR Ferguson) 4-110(WJ Clark) 5-143(J Kroesen)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
NT Etman 6 2 21 2
M Hart 5.4 0 19 2 4
RWA van Troost 3 0 27 0 3 1
GG Kroesen 8 0 34 0 3
LT Ingram 8 3 19 0
TJ Heggelman 2 0 7 0
UF Baker 2 0 14 1
Excelsior 20 I 1st Innings
Batter Fielder Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
TC Etman dnb          
RTF Verhagen+ dnb          
M Hart dnb          
TJ Heggelman* dnb          
LT Ingram dnb          
LA Kroesen dnb          
SL van Troost dnb          
RWA van Troost dnb          
UF Baker dnb          
NT Etman dnb          
GG Kroesen dnb          
extras   (b0 lb0 w0 nb0) 0      
TOTAL   0 wickets for 0      
FOW
 
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb

Group A preview

Rod Lyall 12/04/22


For the first time in its 132-year history the Dutch top flight men’s competition will be played in two groups this season, and the teams’ first target will be to finish in the top three of their pool, thus giving themselves a crack at the Topklasse title in the second phase.

At first glance it looked as if Group A might be distinctly the weaker of the two, but with a returning influx of overseas players after the pandemic-induced drought of the past two years and some significant transfers it may prove a tougher challenge than first thought.

2021 champions, Punjab Rotterdam, have made the bold decision to do without any overseas imports, and will largely stay with their winning combination from last season.

With the four Zulfiqar brothers at the top of their order, along with (now former) international opener Steph Myburgh and all-rounder Teja Nidamanuru, they have plenty of power with the bat; whether Myburgh is regularly available remains to be seen, but Punjab fans will be hoping he can reproduce the scintillating form with which he bowed out of the international arena in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago.

The parsimonious seam attack of skipper Suleiman Tariq, Sohail Bhatti, Sikander Zulfiqar and Mubashar Hussain, now joined by Belgian-based, former VOC player Ashiqullah Said, is likely to further trouble opposing batting sides, and with the spin options of Nidamanuru, Saqib Zulfiqar, Irfan ul Haq and possibly the veteran Muhammad Hafeez, Punjab will again be a tough proposition, especially on their bijou ground at Rotterdam’s Zomercomplex.

After last season ended controversially with claims and counterclaims of racist behaviour, HCC will be keen to make a fresh new start, and although they have lost opener Musa Nadeem Ahmad to Voorburg they have compensated for this by acquiring two overseas players, New Zealander Tim Pringle and Australian Zac Worden.

Left-armer Pringle is the son of former New Zealand international Chris, who played for HCC and then for one season with VRA between 1996 and 2001, taking 264 wickets at an average of 11.27, and the Diepput club will be extremely happy if Tim is able to come anywhere close to that kind of effort.

Worden is coming off the back of a successful season opening the batting for his Tea Tree Gully club in the South Australian first grade and was recently selected for the state’s second team; he will slot into the space vacated by Ahmad, and should add solidity to a line-up which showed a tendency to fragility last year, despite the presence of Boris Gorlee, now a Dutch international, Tonny Staal and Damian Crowley.

On the other hand, HCC’s pace attack of Hidde Overdijk, Reinier Bijloos and Olivier Klaus is as menacing as any in the competition, and Clayton Floyd, last year’s leading wicket-taker with 37 wickets at a miserly 7.32, will have benefited from his experience with the Dutch national side over the winter.

Consistently there or thereabouts in recent seasons without ever hitting the heights, HBS Craeyenhout have, like Punjab, opted for the mixture as before.

They will welcome back South African Tayo Walbrugh, who had an outstanding start to last season and finished with 780 runs at an average of 65.00, and Dutch passport holder Ryan Klein, whose sharp pace earned him a place in Ryan Campbell’s national squad this winter; he will be joined by younger brother Kyle, who has already played for the Dutch under-19 side, and the squad will be under the guidance of another South African, Gavin Kaplan, who is part of the coaching team at Gary Kirsten’s academy.

For the rest, HBS will have the experience of skipper Ferdi Vink and mercurial opener Tobias Visée, while they will be hoping that former international star batter (and occasional deadly off-spinner) Wesley Barresi will be more regularly available than the six games he played last season.

They will also be looking for further progress from their emerging talents: allrounders Navjit Singh and Julian de Mey, seamer Benno Boddendijk, and young keeper Martijn Scholte. All told, HBS should certainly be in the mix for one of those top three places.

Among the dark horses of Group A will be promoted side Kampong Utrecht, returning to the top flight after a 24-year absence.

They have signed Auckland wicketkeeper-batter Cole Briggs, who will join South African Pite van Biljon, who enjoyed two successful seasons with the Utrecht club in 2011-12 and who has since played in ten T20Is for South Africa.

Led by the evergreen Usman Malik, the Kampong squad is not short of youthful talent, with under-19 international off-spinner Pierre Jacod, seamer Kertan Nana, the leading wicket-taker in the Hoofklasse last year with 19 at 9.26, and opener Alex Roy all likely to relish the opportunity to move up a level.

There is plenty of experience, too, with seamer Sean Trouw, Shivdutt Singh Jhala, Vikram Chaturvedi, Sandeep Abhyankar, Ratha Alphonse, Saurabh Zalpuri and Robert van der Harten all likely to play a part; with Briggs and Van Biljon to spearhead the side, it would be rash opponents who took Kampong for granted.

By contrast with the stability elsewhere there has been something of a revolving door at the Bermweg, where Sparta 1888 have seen several departures, the most notable of them the transfer of young quick Max Hoornweg to VOC; he has, however, metaphorically passed former international Ahsan Malik somewhere on the A20 as the latter will be appearing in Sparta colours this year.

Another absentee will be last season’s overseas player, Garnett Tarr, who will be with Scottish club Kelburne. He will be replaced by 31-year-old Tripura and former Gujarat batter Samit Gohil, who once made 359 not out for Gujarat in a quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy.

Other acquisitions at the Bermweg include the returning Sandeep Sardha and Belgium pace man Khalid Ahmadi, while Mudassar Bukhari is likely to again be the mainstay of the side with both bat and ball.

Prithviraj Balwantsingh played some useful knocks last year in a team which was generally short of runs, and the Capelle club will be hoping for a better season for the always-dangerous Ali Raza; on the bowling side, Bukhari, Malik and Ahmadi will have the support of fellow-seamers Joost Martijn Snoep and Nasratullah Ibrahimkhil.

If Sparta is to make a serious challenge for a top three spot it will, one suspects, be the bowlers who get them there.

Change is also the order of the day at ACC, another side who found runs hard to come by in 2021.

They will be strengthened by the advent of three South Africans: 27-year-old Limpopo opener Thomas Hobson and two players from Durban’s Amanzimtoti club, Robin Smith, who has experience with Llandudno in Wales and Langley in Cheshire and who was recently selected for the KwaZulu-Natal Coastal side, and Rob Ackerman.

The Amsterdammers will be delighted at the return of Charles McInerney from injury, and will be hoping that their South African trio will create greater space for the development of their crop of promising youngsters, such as seamers Aryan Kumar and Mees van Vliet, batter Shreyas Potdar, and 16-year-old spinner Zinesh Master, who had a sensational debut last season, taking five for 30 against Dosti on his first Topklasse outing.

With Anis Raza, Devanshu Arya and Chris Knoll all lending solidity to the side ACC will be hoping to hold their own in what promises to be a very tight competition, but they will do extremely well to make the cut at the beginning of June.

Scorecard | HBS vs Sparta | 01.05.21

HBS I Vs Sparta I
1-Innings Match Played At Craeyenhout, Den Haag, 01-May-2021, Topklasse
HBS I Win by 9 wkts
Round 1
Toss won by HBS I
Umpires FLA van Lent – E Ruchtie
Scorers MAP Wiegers – AO Smelt
Home Side HBS I
Points Awarded Sparta I 0, HBS I 4
Sparta I 1st Innings 102/10 All Out (Overs 29.5)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
D Umar lbw b SP Geenevasen 23 47 2 0
CP Ambrose c A Ahmed b FJ Vink 0 1 0 0
A Raza+ c A Ahmed b R Klein 7 12 0 0
M Bukhari c YSK Visée b R Klein 2 11 0 0
PB Balwantsingh b Navjit Singh 16 22 2 0
SY Butt b JI de Mey 12 20 1 0
M Latif c R Klein b SP Geenevasen 2 3 0 0
Manminder Singh c A Ahmed b JI de Mey 9 18 1 0
JM Snoep* b FJ Vink 8 26 0 0
U Saleem c YSK Visée b R Klein 16 18 1 1
MB Hoornweg not out 1 2 0 0
extras (b0 lb0 w5 nb1) 6
TOTAL 10 wickets for 102
FOW
1-2(CP Ambrose) 2-16(A Raza) 3-21(M Bukhari) 4-50(PB Balwantsingh) 5-57(D Umar) 6-59(M Latif) 7-69(SY Butt) 8-83(Manminder Singh) 9-101(U Saleem) 10-102(JM Snoep)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
R Klein 7 0 17 3 2
FJ Vink 5.5 0 19 2 1
SP Geenevasen 6 0 27 2
Navjit Singh 2 0 7 1 1
JI de Mey 6 1 18 2 1
YSK Visée 3 0 14 0 1
HBS I 1st Innings 103/1 (Overs 19.4)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
RP Mason not out 41 60 3 0
TP Visée+ c D Umar b M Bukhari 29 18 3 2
Navjit Singh not out 26 40 1 1
A Ahmed dnb
R Klein dnb
JI de Mey dnb
FJ Vink* dnb
BFL Boddendijk dnb
SP Vink dnb
SP Geenevasen dnb
YSK Visée dnb
extras (b0 lb2 w4 nb1) 7
TOTAL 1 wickets for 103
FOW
1-50(TP Visée)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
M Bukhari 5 0 27 1 1
Manminder Singh 4 0 39 0 1
MB Hoornweg 4 0 13 0 2
JM Snoep 2 0 4 0
U Saleem 2 0 4 0 1
PB Balwantsingh 2 0 10 0
M Latif .4 0 4 0

Scorecard | Sparta vs VOC | 12.05.20

Sparta I Vs VOC I
1-Innings Match Played At Sportpark Bermweg, Capelle a/d IJssel, 12-Jul-2020, Topklasse
Sparta I Win by 7 wkts
Round 2
Toss won by VOC I
Umpires Z Hussain – P Muthucumaru
Home Side Sparta I
Points Awarded VOC I 0, Sparta I 2
VOC I 1st Innings 46/9 All Out (Overs 24)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
MA Durrani b M Bukhari 1 20 0 0
R Malik c A Raza b JM Snoep 6 32 0 0
TIM de Kok+ c A Raza b JM Snoep 4 9 1 0
PM Seelaar* c A Raza b JM Snoep 1 3 0 0
RR Upadhyaya c JM Snoep b M Singh 9 27 0 0
A Jain b N Ibrahimkhil 14 33 1 0
JD Schoonheim b N Ibrahimkhil 0 3 0 0
SB van Wingerden c MB Hoornweg b N Ibrahimkhil 0 6 0 0
T Moorman c MB Hoornweg b M Singh 0 4 0 0
H Shah not out 2 7 0 0
CL Rutgers Absent
extras (b0 lb0 w9 nb0) 9
TOTAL 9 wickets for 46
FOW
1-8(MA Durrani) 2-18(TIM de Kok) 3-20(PM Seelaar) 4-20(R Malik) 5-44(A Jain) 6-44(JD Schoonheim) 7-44(RR Upadhyaya) 8-44(SB van Wingerden) 9-46(T Moorman)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
M Bukhari 4 1 7 1 3
MB Hoornweg 4 1 8 0 3
JM Snoep 5 1 7 3 2
K Bhatti 6 0 19 0
N Ibrahimkhil 3 1 5 3
M Singh 2 1 1 2
Sparta I 1st Innings 48/3 (Overs 7.2)
Batsman Fieldsman Bowler Runs Bls 4s 6s
A Raza+ c JD Schoonheim b T Moorman 16 9 2 1
S Sardha b T Moorman 0 1 0 0
F Iqbal c TIM de Kok b JD Schoonheim 16 19 1 0
M Latif not out 9 10 1 0
MB Hoornweg not out 5 5 1 0
M Bukhari* dnb
N Ibrahimkhil dnb
M Singh dnb
JM Snoep dnb
PB Balwantsingh dnb
K Bhatti dnb
extras (b1 lb0 w1 nb0) 2
TOTAL 3 wickets for 48
FOW
1-10(S Sardha) 2-21(A Raza) 3-35(F Iqbal)
Bowler Overs Maid Runs Wkts wd nb
T Moorman 3 0 18 2 1
RR Upadhyaya 2 0 14 0
JD Schoonheim 1.2 0 7 1
A Jain 1 0 8 0