Asides

Rod Lyall 10/08/26

Thanks to the genius of the KNCB fixtures programme, the four leaders in the Topklasse T20 Cup found themselves duking it out on Sunday to settle the rankings as the teams rounded the turn (apologies for the mixed metaphor) and headed into the home straight, with seven furlongs matches still to go.

Excelsior ‘20 surrendered their unbeaten record, losing decisively to VRA at Thurlede and allowing the Amsterdammers to move to within two points of them.

Vikram Singh (28) and Shreyas Potdar (27) gave the visitors a great start, enabling them to reach 57 for one inside the powerplay, but it was Johan Smal’s 43-ball 71, assisted by 32 from Teja Nidamanuru, which saw his side to a challenging 194 for five.

Jack Wood smacked 39 when Excelsior replied and Riley Ayre made a slightly more sedate 22, but once they had gone the innings fell away, Shariz Ahmad claiming three for 18 and Smal and Nidamanuru picking up two apiece, and only Rens van Troost’s 32 not out got them to 130 for nine.

It was a disappointing end to the weekend for the leaders, who had beaten Sparta 1888 by 25 runs at the Bermweg on Saturday, Karson Edward taking four for 22 and Jens Blankestijn three for 15 as the Spartans were dismissed for 121 in pursuit of Excelsior’s 146 for three.

Only Ruve Louw, with a 44-ball 54, was able to cope with Excelsior’s pacemen, while the core of the Schiedammers’ innings was a second-wicket stand of 77 between Roel Verhagen (55 from 57) and Ayre (37 from 38).

On Saturday afternoon, Sparta were again bowled out, this time by VRA, in a game which could prove influential at both ends of the table: VRA’s 11-run victory extended their winning run to four matches and set up their challenge to Excelsior, while Sparta are now back in relegation territory, just two points ahead of Hermes-DVS and with an inferior net run rate.

But it took an aggressive knock of 43 from Viraj Thakur, batting at eight, to enable VRA to recover from a perilous 51 for five and reach 159 for nine, while Sparta’s reply was enlivened by a remarkable innings from Khalid Ahmadi, who smashed six sixes in a 13-ball knock of 38, five of them in one Shayan Moodley over.

In Sunday’s other crucial top-of-the-table clash, Rotterdam recovered from a scare early in their reply to Voorburg’s 166 for seven and won by five wickets, thanks to a fourth-wicket stand of 114 between Abdul Rehman Niazi (38 from 33) and Saqib Zulfiqar (77 from 38).

Don Glover and Aaditt Jain had reduced the 50-over champions to 48 for three by the end of the powerplay, but Niazi and Saqib then turned the innings around, and Rotterdam won with 19 deliveries to spare.

Voorburg’s innings was the complete opposite of their opponents’: Michael Levitt’s 22-ball 51 had steered his side to 77 without loss by the end of their powerplay, and although his opening partner Cedric de Lange contributed 57 from 35 deliveries, the rest of the batting was unable to capitalise against Sulaiman Tariq (three for 23) and Rotterdam’s four-man spin attack.

The win took Rotterdam into third place on the table, since on Saturday they had shared the points in a low-scoring tie with HCC at De Diepput.

Batting first, HCC had battled their way to 122 for eight, Boris Gorlee top-scoring with 38 and Yash Patel contributing 29 as the Rotterdam spinners kept the batters under tight control.

But the Lions’ pace attack responded in kind, and although Muhammad Gondal made 46 before he was eighth out, the rest of the batting struggled in their turn.

At Gondal’s departure eight were still required with nine deliveries remaining, and when Teun Leijer began the final over the equation was seven from six.

Tehzeeb Haider clobbered a single from the first; another for Ahmed Shafiq brought Haider back on strike, and he struck the third ball to the wide long on boundary to level the scores.

As the batters attempted the winning run off the next, Leijer gathered the ball and threw down the stumps with Shafiq millimetres short of his crease.

Tariq was then caught at point by Gorlee, and the match ended with the scores still level.

HCC did rather better with the bat against Voorburg in their second game on Saturday, but it was Patel’s 23-ball 40 not out which enabled them to recover from 95 for six to reach 160 for eight.

But then Michael Levitt, returning to his most destructive form, set up Voorburg’s seven-wicket victory with an outstanding knock of 84 from just 35 deliveries, with five fours and nine sixes, and Bas de Leede completed the win with an unbeaten 35 and more than four overs to spare.

Voorburg’s mixed weekend leaves them in fourth place, four points behind the leaders, while HCC, in sixth, seem likely to have to settle for a mid-table position when the campaign ends at the beginning of September.

Rod Lyall 03/08/26

The Topklasse T20 Cup campaign resumed at the weekend, Excelsior ‘20 maintaining their unbeaten record and extending their lead to four points with victories over Voorburg on Saturday and Kampong on Sunday.

Their win against Voorburg at Westvliet was another thriller, the seven-wicket margin belying the tension of the final over, which began with the Schiedammers needing still needing ten to overhaul their hosts’ 189 for four.

Karson Edward had rocked Voorburg by removing openers Michael Levitt and Waseem Mohsen inside the first four overs, but a third-wicket stand of 86 between Don Glover (who made 48 from 41 deliveries) and Ryan Klein put the innings back on track.

When Glover departed Klein took over, hammering a 49-ball 98, including nine fours and four sixes, before Edward was able to deny him a century.

Roel Verhagen responded with a 15-ball 35 when Excelsior replied, and then Jack Wood and Riley Ayre put on 121 together, accelerating as the overs began to run out.

So ten were required from Patient Charumbira’s final over, and when he bowled Wood for 80, made from 58 deliveries with five fours and as many sixes, and Charl Prinsloo was run out next ball by a direct hit by Michael Rippon, the game was still in the balance,

They took a leg-bye off the penultimate ball, bringing Joost Kroesen on strike, and his straight drive enabled the pair to take the two required before the ball crossed the boundary; Ayre remained on 62 not out.

Sunday’s victory over Kampong was less gripping, as the Utrecht side battled their way to 113 for nine, internationals Max O’Dowd, Zac Lion-Cachet and Scott Edwards contributing just 14 runs between them, and twenties from Pierre Jacod and Lorenzo Ingram the most significant contributions.

It took Excelsior into the nineteenth over to complete their five-wicket win against a largely second-string Kampong attack, Ayre top-scoring with 43.

It was Kampong’s second defeat of the weekend, the first having come at the hands of Voorburg, who bounced back from their defeat by Excelsior by posting 191 for six in the afternoon, Mohsen top-scoring with 57 and Klein and Tom de Leede contributing thirties.

Kampong could only manage 161 for six in reply, the highlight Jacod’s 47-ball 66.

The win meant that Voorburg would still be in second place on the table at the weekend’s close, but
Rotterdam, meanwhile, hung on to third with a relatively victory over Hermes-DVS on Saturday.

Hermes’ total of 135 for five was largely due to David Rushmere’s unbeaten 67, his only significant support coming from Daniel Doyle-Calle (26), and although Sahil Kothari claimed three for 20 and Sam van Giezen two for 20, Musa Ahmad (30) and Shoaib Minhas (25) gave the 50-over champions a good enough start to see them over the line in 17.1 overs with four wickets in hand.

Rotterdam, however, lost ground to Excelsior on Sunday, when they suffered a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of VRA, who were the only other team to win both their matches.

Rotterdam were given another great start with a 28-ball 53, inclding four fours and three sixes, but although Andul Rehman Niazi made an unbeaten 39 the rest of the batting struggled, and the innings closed on 149 for nine.

Tehzeeb Haider removed Vikram Singh in the third over when VRA replied, but then Shirase Rasool and Johan Smal shared a fine unbroken stand of 136, Rasool finishing on 61 and Smal on 78 as the Amsterdammers reached their target with 16 deliveries remaining.

It was a great couple of days for Rasool, whose 34-ball 52 on Saturday had played a large part in VRA’s 7-run win against Hermes-DVS.

With Shariz Ahmad contributing 34 and Udit Nashier an unbeaten 23, VRA reached 163 for seven.

Rushmere (32), Ralph Elenbaas (20) and Doyle (43) gave Hermes’s rejoinder a promising start, but thereafter the innings fell away and with two overs left 19 were still required with only three wickets in hand.

Two more fell in those final overs, and the innings closed on 156 for nine.

At De Diepput on Saturday, Sparta 1888 continued their run of good form with the ball, dismissing HCC for just 92.

Only Damian Crowley, Clayton Floyd and Hidde Overdijk reached double figures after Juandre Scheepers had removed both openers and further wickets by Nasrat Ibrahimkhil and Johne Jacob ad reduced the hosts to 25 for four.

Hidde Overdijk led the fightback when Sparta replied, claiming three wickets inside the first five overs and completing his spell with figures of three for 7, but Khalid Ahmadi hit four sixes in his 20-ball 30, and although Teun Leijer and Floyd picked up two wickets each, Scheepers held firm, seeing his side home by just two wickets with 15 balls to spare.

The competition will reach the halfway point next weekend, with VRA’s visit to Thurlede on Sunday to take on Excelsior among the most significant fixtures; also likely to have a big effect on the standings is the three-way clash between Rotterdam, Voorburg and HCC, all of whom face each other across the two days.

Rod Lyall 13/07/26

It’s not so long ago that a Schiedam derby between Excelsior ’20 and Hermes-DVS attracted a partisan crowd of hundreds, fully justifying the town’s claim to be the Cricket Capital of the Netherlands.

Those days may be gone, but those who turned up to Thurlede for the first Schiedam derby of the season as the T20 Cup got under way on Saturday – Excelsior having been playing in the 50-over Hoofdklasse until now – were rewarded with a low-scoring thriller which went into the final over.

Thanks to Ash Ostling’s unbeaten 54, Hermes had managed to reach 138 for eight, and at 115 for two with Roel Verhagen and Riley Ayre well set and five overs left, Excelsior seemed to be cruising to their second victory of the day.

But when Verhagen, on 38, was run out by Olivier Elenbaas, it triggered a collapse, and the home side went into the final over still needing eight for victory and only three wickets in hand.

Karson Edward hit a six to level the scores, but when Sebastiaaan Braat bowled him with his next delivery a tie remained on the cards (the KNCB having wisely refrained from introducing a Super Over in a league competition).

Gijs Kroesen was equal to the occasion, however, pushing the single which gave Excelsior the points with one ball to spare.

Earlier, Excelsior had celebrated their first Topklasse match of the season with a seven-wicket victory over HCC, Jack Wood’s 63-ball 111 not out guiding them past the Lions’ 171 for eight; Wood was again in form in the second game, his 20-ball 43 having started the chase in a hurry.

The double victory put Verhagen’s team on top of the table on Saturday night, but after Sunday’s matches they had been displaced on net run rate by Rotterdam, who followed up Saturday’s 36-run victory over Kampong with a last-ball defeat of Sparta 1888 by a single run.

Against Kampong, the 50-over champions had been rescued from a perilous 41 for five by an unbroken stand of 149 between Saqib Zulfiqar and Abdul Rehman Niazi, seeing them to 190 for five; Saqib’s 92 not out came from 57 deliveries with seven fours and six sixes, while Niazi contributed a 30-ball 53, including five sixes.

Kampong were never really in the hunt, skipper Alex Roy top-scoring with 33 as they battled their way to 154 for six against Rotterdam’s four-man spin attack.

Rotterdam won their 50-over title with dominant batting performances, and it therefore came as a shock when Sparta, who like Excelsior have been playing in the Hoofdklasse so far this season, dismissed them for just 120 on Sunday, slow left-armer Jochem Steenbergen claiming four for 41 and Shoaib Minhas top-scoring with 50.

Sparta looked promisingly placed at 52 for one, but then Rotterdam’s spinners against deployed their wiles, and by the time Sulaiman Tariq began the final over seven wickets were down and 11 were still required.

Three dots virtually sealed the issue, and although Nasrat Ibrahimkhil kept Sparta’s hopes alive to the final delivery, with four needed the batters were only able to manage a two and Rotterdam had survived.

It was, however, a much more encouraging effort from Sparta, who had started their campaign the day before with a 77-run defeat at the hands of Kampong at Maarschalkerweerd.

Putting the loss to Rotterdam behind them, openers Pierre Jacod (74 from 47 deliveries) and Max O’Dowd (71 from 51) had plundered 138 from Sparta’s attack in 15 overs before O’Dowd was dismissed, and the innings closed on 187 for three.

This was always likely to be too much for Sparta, and although keeper Deran Benta made a 28-ball 34 they were restricted to 110 for nine, Salman Yousufzai taking three for 24 from his four overs; a mark of Kampong’s control was that their opponents were unable to hit a single six.

At Westvliet on Saturday, Voorburg put their failure to take the 50-over title behind them with an authoritative eight-wicket victory over VRA.

They dismissed the Amsterdammers for 131, Aaditt Jain claiming three for 23, and then Bas de Leede (22 from 19), Michael Levitt (57 not out from 55) and Cedric de Lange (34 from 29) executed a well-paced chase to see their side home with 19 deliveries to spare.

And on Sunday HCC returned to Schiedam to post 202 for six against Hermes-DVS, Tonny Staal setting up that imposing total with a 35-ball 66.

David Rushmore’s 76 from 46 deliveries ensured that Hermes were up with the pace at the halfway mark, but then HCC’s bowlers asserted themselves, and as wickets began to fall the scoring lagged, so that an improbable 38 were required off the last.

They could only manage 14, and HCC won by 23 runs.

The luck of the draw means that Rotterdam and Excelsior will face off at the Zomercomplex next Saturday, but in the meantime the latter have ensured that they will be playing in the 50-over competition next season, having comprehensively beaten Salland by 124 runs in the Hoofdklasse play-off on Sunday.