Topklasse Live | T20 Round 4 | As it Happened

Single to Mohammad Shafiq to keep the strike, and Naqash returns to bowl the last. Starts with a wide, then Shafiq pushes a single. Asad levels the scores, and then Shafiq swings him to leg for the winning run. Punjab win by 5 wickets.

Victor Lubbers back, and Asad hammers him over long off for another six. But just when it seemed to be settled, Rehmat gets under what might have been the winning blow and is caught in the covers by Ganesan for 34. Five still needed, seven balls remaining.

Ten in all from Victor Lubbers’ third over, and Rehmat finishes off Gopinath’s next by sweeping him for four. Nasir back into the attack with 32 needed from four.

Lubbers, Gopinath and now Elan Bharathi are gradually hauling their side back into this, cutting out the flow of boundaries and keeping Asad and Rehmat Zulfiqar on a fairly tight leash. 144 looks a little more distant now . . . But as I write that Rehmat sweeps Bharathi behind square for four, and a misfield off the final ball enables Asad to come back for two.

Victor Lubbers into the attack, and his third ball strikes Sikander pretty much dead in front. The umpire’s finger goes up. Big wicket for Salland, that!

A worrying moment for Salland – and Germany – as Naqash dives to his left to try to save off his own bowling, falls heavily, and is slow to get up. But he appears to be OK. Gopinath replaces Elam Bharathi from the Harbour End, just four coming from his over. And that’s the mid-innings drinks break.

Naqash maintains his fifth stump line outside off, and although Asad gets off the mark with a boundary, off the final ball of the over Minhas gets an edge and Ottachchige takes another catch. He made 40 from 27 deliveries, and Sikander joins Asad.

Mohsin Riaz’s unhappy T20 run continues, as he slashes at a Sahir Naqash delivery and Ottachchige dives to his right to take a terrific catch. Asad Zulfiqar is again the first of the clan to come to the crease.

Minhas keeps up the momentum, despatching Gul Ahmed Nasir over mid-on and cover for back-to-back boundaries. A quiet over from Reinder Lubbers, then Elam Bharathi is next up from the Harbour End. Minhas sweeps him for four, then lofts him high and handsome over long on. Suddenly 144 doesn’t look so far off.

Minhas belts Bartholomew over long off for six, then picks him up from outside off and over square leg for another. Punjab seem keen to deal almost exclusively in boundaries, Usman driving Reinder Lubbers back straight for four before cutting him over point and then hitting him there again – in the air but safe. Then he clips him to midwicket, and Ganesan takes the catch. Salland needed that!

They’re back out at ’t Zomercomplex, Shoaib Minhas guiding Reinder Lubbers’ second delivery from the Equestrian Centre end behind point for four. A single is the only other scoring. Fraser Bartholomew from the Harbour End.

They can only manage four off those three deliveries, and Excelsior win by 5 runs.

Ouch! When Heggelman returns with 18 needed off the last, Kroesen eases him effortlessly over midwicket for six, reducing the deficit to 11. A fumble at long off enables him to come back for a second, but then he miscues over the keeper’s head and is caught at third man by Blankestijn. Ten needed off the last three deliveries.

And as if that’s not enough Clark, after smacking Blankestijn over long on for six, gets under the next and is caughtby Verhagen in front of the sightscreen and goes for a 38-ball 50. Manminder Singh in to join Kroesen.

Wicket at Het Zomercomplex: Raxworthy smacks a Sohail Bhatti full toss down the throat of Riaz at long off and departs for 41. Bartholomew joins Lubbers, who’s on 32*.

Ahmadi does what he was presumably sent in to do, belting Verhagen back over his head for six. A tidy Niels Etman over, however, claws things back Excelsior’s way: Sparta need 34 off the last three overs. But Clark’s still there, on 40*.

Lubbers decides the time has come, closing out a Minhas over with a six and a four, and then hoists Sohail Bhatti over midwicket for another six. Salland have the basis for a pretty imposing total here.

Nine come from Rens van Troost’s next, all in ones and twos as Clark and Balwantsingh hustle some momentum into the Sparta innings. Roel Verhagen into the attack from the City End, and Golden Arm strikes again, bowling Balwantsingh and swinging the balance back Excelsior’s way. Khalid Ahmadi join’s Clark, who’s now on 32*.

Clark and Ingram look to be the key figures at Thurlede, with Sparta needing 65 off eight overs. A second win for Excelsior would reinforce their hopes of reaching the semi-finals, but Sparta need the win to stave off any possible resurgence by Salland.

This could turn into a very good day indeed for Salland and a very bad one for Punjab, but there’s still a long way to go. Still and all, Raxworthy has just lifted Minhas over long on for six, and they have a platform for a good total if they can avoid another of their batting collapses.

Naqash lasts just two balls, overbalancing and very smartly stumped by Asad Zulfiqar. Victor Lubbers in at five.

Sulaiman Tariq has a bowl himself, but the runs continue to flow, 14 coming from his first over including a straight six by Raxworthy. But when Minhas comes on from the Harbour End, Ganesan holes out to Hamza Cheema at extra cover and departs for a 26-ball 40. Sahir Naqash in to join Raxworthy.

Ingram into the attack; they milk him for a brace and a couple of singles, but when Ferguson makes to sweep he beats the bat and into the stumps. Balwantsingh joins Clark with the game nicely poised.

Ganesan swings Shafiq behind square for four, then hoists Hussain high over midwicket for six. In between, Ottachchige hammers Hussain over mid-on for four, but when he tries to do it again he succeeds only in holing out to Minhas and departs for 8. Raxworthy in to join Ganesan.

Ferguson and Tarr push things along briskly, but then Tarr gets a leading edge to Niels Etman, and it’s another catch for Heggelman. The third member of the Sparta overseas triumvirate, Will Clark, joins Ferguson.

They’re straight back out at ’t Zomercomplex, Punjab winning the toss and asking Salland to bat. Shafiq bowls the first over to Ganesan and Ottachchige from the Equestrian Centre End, Mubashir Hussain takes the second.

Immediate success for Jens Blankestijn: Bukhari goes back and slaps at the first ball he receives, miscuing to Heggelman at deep mid-off. Garnett Tarr in to join Sam Ferguson.

No mistake at Het Loopveld either, Balbirnie taking over with a 24-ball 34*, Smal keeping him company with 17*, and VRA win by 7 wickets. That will keep them firmly at the top of the table.

No, they couldn’t: Naqash (22*) and Bartholomew (13*) see their side home, Bartholomew settling it with a boundary, and Salland win by 6 wickets. That’s been a very strange day for Voorburg, Musa’s century ending Punjab’s unbeaten run and then they end Salland’s winless run in the afternoon. Weird stuff, but that’s T20, I guess.

Another one goes, as Laurens Boissevain and Cedric de Lange combine to run out Victor Lubbers. Surely Salland can’t blow this?

Not 140, certainly, but Ingram finishes with a 56-ball 69*, and Excelsior do have something to bowl at.

Van Vliet returns to get the breakthrough, Ottachchige caught by Musa Ahmad for 38. Victor Lubbers in to join Naqash, and Salland need 26.

Arya strikes, bowling Visser for 21. But Smal’s still there, and VRA need only 38 now.

Ottachchige and Naqash bring Salland to within 33 of their first win in this competition, on 33* and 13* respectively. Voorburg in desperate need of some quick wickets.

Technical gremlins have made keeping up with events at Thurlede well-nigh impossible, but we can now tell you that Ingram has made his way to 46*, despite losing both Niels Etman and Rens van Troost to Faisal Bashir. He needs to stay there if Excelsior are going to get anywhere near, say, 140.

Van Luin is run out by a return from Knoll to Devanshu Arya, having made a 25-ball 38. Johan Smal in at four.

Philippe Boissevain into the attack, and he gets Raxworthy, caught by Floris de Lange for 37.

Ottachchige and Raxworthy take to Kamal, and then Raxworthy goes after Mees van Vliet with a vengeance, 22 coming from his first over. Raxworthy’s raced to 32* from 14 deliveries, Ottachchige on 17*.

A much-needed wicket for ACC, Kumar bowling Zamaan Khan for an 11-ball 21. Van Luin’s on 14*, and Visser’s the new man.

Disaster for Salland, as Ganesan’s run out by Stef Mulder off the first ball of the innings. Finn Raxworthy joins Ottachchige in the middle.

Tyler Van Luin and Zamaan Khan set out on VRA’s chase, the first over bowled by Anis Raza. Expensive first over, including a Van Luin four and back-to-back sixes for Zamaan. Allegrissimo start by VRA.

Verhagen’s gone as well, falling to the same Clark-Balwantsingh combination and departing for 10. Ingram and Stan van Troost engaged in a rebuilding exercise for Excelsior, against Snoep and Tom Hoornweg now.

A run-out at ’t Loopveld as well, Raza beaten by Balbirnie’s throw and departing for 18. Then bowler Balbirnie picks up a second wicket, Mark Wolfe caught by Ashir Abid, and it’s a rather diminuendo conclusion to the ACC innings.

Fraser Bartholomew bowls Van Vliet and then Ganesan catches Kamal off Gul Ahmed Nasir, and Voorburg’s last six wickets have fallen for 29 runs. Salland will be pretty happy with that.

Lubbers again, this time responsible for the running out of Cedric Lange as Voorburg’s slump continues.

Another fine catch, this time by Will Clark at slip off Balwantsingh, and Tim Etman goes without scoring. Lorenzo Ingram in to join Verhagen now.

Raza’s still still there, but he’s lost two partners: first Rahil Ahmed, caught by Van Luin off Balbirnie for 4, then Mahesh Hans, caught by that man again off Aaditt Jain, for 1. Van Luin has had a hand in all five wickets to fall so far.

Victor Lubbers removes both the brothers Boissevain, Philippe leg-before and Laurens caught bty Naqash. And now Floris de Lange has been bowled by Elam Bharathi. This is more reminiscent of Voorburg’s batting horrors of last week than of this morning’s shock win against Punjab.

Prithvi Balwantsingh bowls the first over from the Chalet End, conceding three runs, but with the third ball of the second wicketkeeper Garnett Tarr takes a fine catch off Khalid Ahmadi, diving to his right to grasp the edge from Michael Hart. Tim Etman in to join Verhagen.

Stijn de Leede’s gone at ‘’t Zomercomplex, caught by Abbas Sherzad off the bowling of Gopinath for 27. Philippe Boissevain’s on 10*.

At Het Loopveld ACC have been making good progress against their second opponents of the day, Auld Enemy VRA. Chris Knoll and Shreyas Potdar put on 45 for the first wicket before a double strike by Tyler van Luin removed them for 32 and 18 respectively. Since then, Hobson and Raza have taken them to 107, but Van Luin’s return brought about the fall of Hobson for 37. Raza’s still there, on 10*.

ACC are still well short of a satisfactory total at ’t Loopveld, with Hans and Aryan Kumar needing more than singles if they are to get their side well past the hundred.

Rehmat and Shafiq are keeping up a fair momentum at ‘’t Zomercomplex, helped by a couple of wides from Musa and an edge by Shafiq which runs to the third man boundary. But they’ll need to accelerate a bit from here if they’re to set a demanding target.

At Thurlede VOC have won the toss and put Excelsior in.

That’s the one Voorburg really needed: Minhas, on 44, skies Stef Mulder square, there’s a long, long wait for it to descend, and when it does Stijn de Leede is there to take the catch. Mohammad Shafiq to the crease, and Punjab have some work to do.

A run-out was all ACC needed at this stage, and it comes from an excellent return from Doram from the square leg boundary to beat Rahil Ahmed’s dive as he and his old Dost clubmate Mahesh Hans attempt an ambitious second.

Sikander hammers a De Lange full toss over bovine territory for six, but then an inside edge deflects the next ball into his stumps. Rehmat Zulfiqar is there with Minhas now, and the opener has moved on to a 23-ball 37*.

Another for Venter, as Raza lofts him towards cow corner and is caught by Crowley. ACC lapsing into trouble here now.

Asad Zulfiqar has come and gone at ’t Zomercomplex, making 13 before pulling Floris de Lange to Laurens Boissevain at deep midwicket. Minhas is on 32* now from 18 deliveries, as Sikander Zulfiqar comes to the crease.

Now Potdar’s gone, a leading edge off Philip Opperman going straight to Jan-Wieger Overdijk at cover. Rahil Ahmed joins Raza with a lot of rebuilding to be done.

Scrub that: Hobson tries to belt Henrico Venter into the River Amstel (metaphorically speaking), and is struck on the pad. The umpire’s finger goes up, and he departs for 11. Anis Raza joins Potdar, who’s on 28*.

Three boundaries for Potdar off successive deliveries from Jan-Wieger Overdijk, and ACC are recovering pretty well from that early setback.

Mees van Vliet quickly replaces Musa, but Usman twice hits him for four, convincingly cutting through point, rather less so off the edge to fine third man. Kamal generally keeps Minhas quiet, although he does manage a four of his hip to fine leg and then clips the final delivery off his toes and over the midwicket boundary.

A wicket for Damian Crowley: Knoll caught by Henrico Venter for 5. Thomas Hobson in early to join Potdar.

Shoaib Minhas and Yasir Usman open for Punjab as usual, Musa bowling the first over from the Equestrian Centre End. Minhas off the mark immediately with a single, Usman following suit. Then Minhas slog-sweeps him square for six, and chops him through point for four. Punjab off to a flier. Sajjad Kamal from the Harbour End.

Daniel Doram takes the new ball for HCC, six coming his first over as Chris Knoll, opening with Shreas Potdar, takes a four off the final ball. Jan-Wieger Overdijk to bowl the second.

But at Het Loopveld ACC, having won the toss, have elected to bat first.

At the Zomercomplex Musa Ahmad has called correctly and invited Punjab to have a bat.