Asides

Rod Lyall 14/09/25

Dutch autumn weather did its best to spoil the party on Saturday, but at Schiedam’s Loopuyt Oval at least cricket had the last word, the finals of both the Women’s T20 and men’s Topklasse T20 Cups achieving a result.

Both matches were curtailed by the rain, the side which won the toss electing to field and thereby gaining the considerable advantage of chasing a severely reduced target.

In the women’s match Quick Haag got in their full 20 overs against HCC, reaching 143 for five thanks to a splendid 68-ball 86 from opener Annemijn Thomson, who was supported in a second-wicket stand of 80 by Luisa Ekelmans (25 at a run a ball).

Iris Zwilling was the pick of the HCC bowlers, her four overs conceding just 7 runs for the wicket of Thomson’s opening partner Alarda Mol.

Then the weather intervened, and HCC were set a reduced target of 36 from five overs, a task which they were untroubled in achieving for the loss of one wicket with three deliveries to spare, Frédérique Overdijk seeing them home with an unbeaten 21 from 16 balls.

HCC’s men found the show on the other foot soon afterwards, when VRA captain Teja Nidamanuru won the toss and elected to field.

Who the Lions would be facing had been in doubt for much of the week, after Voorburg, who had lost to VRA in a semi-final, challenged that result on the grounds that their opponents had played an ineligible player in Shirase Rasool.

Rasool, they claimed, had played an insufficient number of matches in the round robin phase, but in a last-minute decision the Appeals Committee ruled that he had indeed been qualified to play under the KNCB’s complex Playing Conditions.

Having been cleared to contest the final the Amsterdammers immediately seized the initiative, Nidamanuru himself taking a low return catch to remove Clayton Floyd with the first ball of the second over, and Ben Fletcher having Oliver White caught by Johan Smal off the first ball of the next.

When Boris Gorlee edged the first ball of the sixth,bowled by Peter Ruffell, through to keeper Jack Cassidy it was 17 for three, and although Shirsak Banerjee got off the mark with a boundary, HCC were struggling with 25 on the board when the players were forced from the field two balls into the seventh.

A long delay followed, and when Mark Wolfe and Banerjee resumed the innings had been reduced to just 11 overs a side.

Almost immediately Shariz Ahmad removed Banerjee and Hidde Overdijk with successive deliveries, but Wolfe (20) and Daniel Crowley (18 from 10 deliveriesI doubled the score before Nidamanuru accounted for both in the final over, and HCC closed on 65 for seven.

That was adjusted to 66 by DLS, and Rasool gave VRA’s reply a flying start, top-edging Crowley to third man for four before twice smacking him over long on for six.

Trying to make it three in a row he was caught by Hidde Overdijk on the boundary for a four-ball 16, and then Nidamanuru took up the challenge, carving White through backward point for four before twice lofting him over long on for two more.

He got under the next and was caught in the deep by Teun Leijer, but VRA had almost reached the halfway mark inside two overs.

By the time Clayton Floyd had Vikram Singh caught at cow only 24 more were required, and Sma’s 11-ball 19 took VRA to within two runs of their target, Shariz and Cassidy finishing it off two balls into the seventh over.

The weather had ensured that it was far from being a classic, but it gave VRA their fifth T20 Cup final victory.

There was a less satisfactory outcome at the Zomercomplex, where ACC had reached 17 for two in 4.1 overs against Kampong Utrecht before the players left the field, never to return.

There is no provision for a replay in the Hoofdklasse Cup final, so Kampong are champions by virtue of having topped the table after the round robin phase, and will now meet VOC Rotterdam, again at the Zomercomplex, on Sunday to decide which of the two plays in the Topklasse T20 Cup next season.

Rod Lyall 08/09/25

Winning the toss and batting proved to be the winning strategy in the T20 Cup semi-finals on Sunday, as HCC and VRA set their opponents targets of eight an over or just short of it and marched into next week’s final.

HCC suffered an early setback against Hermes-DVS at De Diepput when Oliver White clattered his own stumps while attempting to hit Aryan Dutt into the Van Hogenhoucklaan, but then Clayton Floyd and skipper Boris Gorlee added 80 for the second wicket in ten overs before Gorlee was stumped off Hikmatullah Jabarkhail for a 35-ball 67 which included eight fours and three sixes.

Floyd had been much more subdued, but he opened out after his captain’s departure, going after Jabarkhail and reaching 26 before he was dismissed by Olivier Elenbaas.

Hidde Overdijk and Thijs Vrolijk added 27 in the final three overs to take their side to 156 for six, Elenbaas claiming two for 27 and Braat conceding just 23 runs in his four overs.

Daniel Doyle-Calle and Ash Ostling put on 18 from the first three overs, but a moment’s hesitation by Doyle when he was called through by his partner for a single to midwicket cost him his wicket, Hidde Overdijk’s direct hit finding him just short.

Teun Leijer removed Ostling in the next over, and when Jan-Wieger Overdijk dismissed Ralph Elenbaas Hermes were in trouble at 34 for three.

Olivier Elenbaas (22 from 19 deliveries) and Dutt (17 from 16) added 29, but then Floyd removed Dutt and Justin Trijzelaar claimed Elebaas and Asad Zulfiqar in the next over, and at 66 for six with eight overs left the issue was effectively settled.

Braat and Mussayab Jamil did their best to turn the game around, putting on 43 from 23 deliveries, but another double-wicket over from Trijzelaar, this time including Braat for 19, followed by Hidde Overdijk’s dismissal ofJamil for a 13-ball 21, ended the revival, and Hermes were all out for 121 with one over remaining.

Trijzelaar finished with four for 28, Hidde Overdijk claiming two for 18.

At Westvliet, VRA were given a decent start against Voorburg by Vikram Singh and Shirase Rasool, although the former was well below his hard-hitting best in making a 20-ball 16 and the Amsterdammers suffered a further setback when Rasool, who had looked in very good touch as he made 41 from 25 deliveries, was forced to retire ill with the total on 67 for one after nine overs.

Cedric de Lange showed his versatility by removing Teja Nidamanuru and Shariz Ahmad in successive overs, finishing with two for 10 from his two overs, but Jack Cassidy (36 from 22) and Ibaad Zaidi (25 not out from 18) added 60 for the fifth wicket, and VRA closed on 159 for seven.

Nidamanuru removed the dangerous De Lange in the second over of Voorburg’s reply, and then Ben Fletcher had the equally dangerous Noah Croes caught behind by Cassidy to reduce the chasers to 10 for two.

Waseem Mohsen, however, was still at the other end, and his 42-ball 58 kept his side in the game; but when he was well caught by Singh at long on off Fletcher the score was 99 for five, and 61 were still required from 33 deliveries.

That was a big ask, and despite a 25-ball 30 from Ryan Klein Voorburg could only manage 137 for eight, 23 runs short of their target.

Fletcher finished with four for 25 and Peter Ruffell two for 27.

So the final, to be played at Sportpark Harga in Schiedam next Saturday, will be between HCC, trying to take the Cup for the second time, and VRA, who have won it four times, most recentlyin 2020.

Rod Lyall 07/09/25

The battle for semi-final places in the Topklasse T20 Cup produced a thrilling climax on Saturday, as Punjab-Ghausia fell just three runs short of Hermes-DVS’s 160 for five, and saw themselves edged out of the top four by the narrowest of net run rate margins.

Starting the final round on top of the table but with a distinct NRR disadvantage compared with their closest rivals, Punjab needed a victory to make absolutely sure of a spot in Sunday’s semi-finals.

But after winning the toss and putting Hermes in, Sikander Zulfiqar saw the Schiedammers accumulate a challenging total, thanks to opener Daniel Doyle-Calle’s 30-ball 40 and a stand of 76 for the fourth wicket between Olivier Elenbaas, who made 37 from 29 deliveries, and Aryan Dutt, whose 26-ball 50 ensured that Punjab would have a significant chase on their hands.

Tehzeeb Haider (two for 16) and Muhammad Gondal (two for 22) went for under five an over, but the rest of Punjab’s bowling was a good deal more expensive.

Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas gave their side’s reply a flowing start, and at 127 for three Punjab were favourably placed, needing 34 off the last five overs with seven wickets in hand.

But then Sebastiaan Braat trapped Burhan Niaz in front, and as wickets fell the asking rate began to climb; Braat added Gandal and Tasir Usman to his tally with successive deliveries, finishing with four for 46, and when Dutt started the final over 11 were still required.

Despite the assistance of four byes Fawad Shinwari and Gondal could only manage three singles, and Hermes were home by three runs.

To make matters worse for Punjab VRA had dismissed Sparta 1888 for 62 in the Amsterdamse Bos, their six-wicket victory in 13.4 overs further improving the Amsterdammers’ NRR, and with HCC and Voorburg recording comfortable victories to leapfrog their rivals, Punjab were squeezed into fifth place.

The NRR margin between third and fifth was just 0.147 in the end, but it was enough to see Punjab eliminated.

Relegated from the 50-over Topklasse, Sparta had started their T20 campaign promisingly enough, but their recent results had been disappointing, and now they collapsed to 22 for five inside the powerplay.

Then young seamer Shayan Moodley claimed three wickets in his opening over, a triple-wicket maiden, and the innings ended on 62.

Juandre Scheepers and Ahsan Malik picked up two wickets apiece for Sparta when VRA replied, but the outcome was foregone, and Jack Cassidy and Imaan Zaidi knocked off the remaining runs quickly enough to see their side into third place on the table, just ahead of Hermes.

HCC finished the round robin phase in style, posting 166 for seven against Excelsior ‘20 at De Diepput and then bowling their opponents out for 75.

Both sides were without key overseas players, Josh Brown (HCC) and Raynard van Tonder (Excelsior) having departed, but with Mark Wolfe, promoted to four, making a 31-ball 36 and Tonny Staal hitting a punishing 39 from 25 deliveries with three fours and two sixes, Sam Rahaley’s four for 31 wasn’t enough to keep the home side’s scoring rate down.

Rahaley then did his best to keep Excelsior in the game with 37 from 33 deliveries, but Daniel Crowley took four for 16 and Clayton Floyd three for 17, and with Nihal Reddy the only other batter to register double figures the Schiedammers ended their season on a disappointing note.

Voorburg were similarly dominant against HBS Craeyenhout at Westvliet, making 168 for five, although the Crows put up a somewhat better display with the bat, reaching 131 before they were all out.

Cedric de Lange and Waseem Mohsen gave the home side a solid start with an opening stand of 75, De Lange going on to 59 from 40 deliveries, and then Noah Croes managed the closing overs with a 24-ball 35 not out.

Mees van Vliet picked up three quick wickets when HBS replied, and at 28 for five it seemed that the Crows might be another side to be bowled out very cheaply.

They were partially rescued by their lower order, however, with Wes Barresi, coming in at nine, top-scoring with 35 from 19 deliveries and Kyle Klein and Joris van Oosterom contributing twenties; Van Vliet finished with three for 21.

At Sportpark Eindenhout, Rood en Wit finished their tough campaign in the Topklasse T20 on a comparative high, not only beating VOC by 45 runs but leapfrogging HBS to avoid the wooden spoon.

Alexander de Graaff’s 32 and 31 from Jordan Woolf enabled to Haarlemmers to reach a respectable 128 for seven, Roman Harhangi claiming three for 18 for VOC, and then Saber Zakhil (three for 7 from three overs), Manzoor Tarake, Ismatullah Nasery and Ben Thornton ran through the Bloodhounds’ batting, bowling them out for 81.

VOC, again finishing eighth on the table, will now face a promotion/relegation play-off against the Hoofdklasse winners, where Kampong go into the semi-finals with an unbeaten record.

Sunday’s semi-finals in the Topklasse will pit HCC against Hermes-DVS at De Diepput, while Voorburg will take on VRA at Westvliet.

Rod Lyall 01/09/25

What a difference an hour makes, especially when the Dutch weather is part of the story: the three matches which started at two o’clock on Sunday all followed a similar course and were played to a finish, whereas those which began later were disrupted by rain, one of them ending in abandonment.

All of this, of course, had its effect on the table, although some clubs will have to wait until next week to discover whether their prospects were improved or harmed by the intervention of Pluvius.

HCC, in particular, had worked their way into a winning position at Craeyenhout, batting on through splatters of rain to reach 177 for six off their 20 overs.

HBS had reduced them to 55 for four at one stage, of which Boris Gorlee had made an 18-ball 30 before Julian de Mey removed him, adding the scalp of Clayton Floyd in his next over, but then Mark Wolfe (35 from 25) and Tonny Staal added 77 for the fifth wicket.

After Wes Barresi had Wolfe smartly stumped by Martijn Scholte Hidde Overdijk joined Staal for a final flourish, Staal finishing with an unbeaten 44 and Overdijk smacking 35 from just 15 deliveries before becoming De Mey’s third victim.

Before HBS could begin their reply the rain became heavier and the covers came on, and they stayed on until the match was abandoned; the point HCC picked up from the No result should be enough to see them into the semi-finals, but defeat by Excelsior next week and a combination of the ‘wrong’ results elsewhere could still see them miss out.

The other match disrupted by the weather was at Westvliet, but in this case Voorburg gained full advantage from the position they had established by reducing Rood en Wit to 52 for six inside 13 overs.

After a long delay Voorburg were set a target of 25 in five overs, and Carl Mumba and Henry Melville needed only nine deliveries to knock off the runs and take the points.

The most significant match of the day was in the Amsterdamse Bos, where Punjab-Ghausia restricted VRA to 120 for nine, 58 of those runs coming from the bat of Jack Cassidy.

Darsh Abhinay had the next highest score with 19, but with Saqib Zulfiqar claiming three for 20 the home side’s innings never really fired, and Punjab were able to produce a measured response, winning by seven wickets with 14 deliveries to spare.

Shoaib Minhas made 35 before he was run out, Sharad Hake having previously given VRA some hope by removing Musa Ahmad and Rushdi Jappie with successive deliveries, but Saqib and Burhan Niaz were equal to the challenge, the former ending on 57 not out and Niaz on 21.

The win took Pinjab back to the top of the table, but VRA dropped to fifth, behind Hermes-DVS on net run rate despite the latter’s surprise loss to VOC at the Hazelaarweg.

Olivier Elenbaas’s unbeaten 40 was the high point of the Schiedammers’ disappointing 125 for six, and VOC then produced one of their more convincing batting efforts of the season.

Hikmatullah Jabarkhail did his best to keep Hermes in the game, dismissing Tim de Kok for 25 and Ramdas Upadhyaya for31, and when the Bloodhounds subsided from 96 for two to 115 for five it was the visitors who might have scented blood.

But Arnav Jain and Jelte Schoonheim held firm, and saw their side to a five-wicket victory with three overs to spare.

Events at Thurlede followed a strikingly similar course, with Excelsior ‘20 dismissing Sparta 1888 for 123 and going on to win by six wickets in 17.4 overs.

Excelsior skipper Roel Verhagen claimed three for 17, but it was his predecessor as captain, former international Tom Heggelman, who had picked up two wickets on his return to the colours against Rood en Wit last week, who did the crucial damage, removing Sparta’s overseas trio of Juandre Scheepers (36), Karl Klesse (24) and Lukas Boorer (11).

He finished with three for 19, and with Nihal Reddy claiming two for 23 Excelsior’s attack exhibited more edge than ithas for much of the season.

Then Raynard van Tonder hammered a 33-ball 69 which included seven fours and five sixes, and although Umar Baker took three for 11, including Van Tonder’s wicket and that of the almost equally dangerous Sam Rahaley, Stan van Troost and Misra Mohool saw Excelsior home.

With VOC scheduled to play Rood en Wit next week, Excelsior are not yet certain to avoid a rfelegation play-off against the Hoofdklasse T20 champions, and will need to beat HCC at De Diepput to be sure of staying in at least seventh place.

At the other end of the table, VRA will squeeze into the semi-finals if they beat Sparta and Hermes-DVS lose to Punjab, while victories for VRA, Voorburg – who take on HBS at Westvliet – and Hermes would see HCC miss out were they to be beaten by Excelsior.

It promises to be an enthralling final round of the round robin, and with the match at De Diepput, somewhat bizarrely, scheduled to start an hour after the other four, HCC and Excelsior will know exactly what they have to do to protect their respective positions.

And then, of course, there’s the Dutch weather . . . . .