Asides

Rod Lyall 12/06/2023

HCC and Punjab retained their unbeaten records on the second weekend of this year’s T20 Cup, but much of the excitement of Saturday’s seven matches was concentrated at Het Loopveld, where ACC lost by nine runs to VOC Rotterdam but then held off a determined challenge by HBS Craeyenhout, winning a high-scoring match by just two runs.

The Leonidas-like heroes of the HBS defeat were Tayo Walbrugh and Azzam Khan, who came together with their side on 33 for two and added 174 in 17 overs before falling just short, Walbrugh finishing with an unbeaten 108 from 70 deliveries and Khan with 50 not out.

But ACC had set a fiercely demanding target of 210, thanks to Chris Knoll’s 48, Thomas Hobson’s 71 and Anis Raza’s 54 not out, and even the onslaught from Walbrugh and Khan could not quite bridge the gap.

Earlier, ACC had also found VOC’s 162 for six beyond them: everyone in the Rotterdammers’ top and middle order had chipped in, Mussayab Jamil top-scoring with 35 not out, and although Fergus Wegener made a 33-ball 45 before he was run out and Hobson contributed 38, VOC held on for the win, Ramdas Upadhyaya conceding only 21 from his four overs and Jamil 25.

In the triple-header at Westvliet, HCC first saw off the hosts, Voorburg, by 22 runs and then posted a three-wicket victory over Sparta 1888 to take their record to four wins out of four.

32 from Ratha Alphonse, an unbeaten 50 from Boris Gorlee and 33 not out from Hidde Overdijk enabled HCC to reach 153 for three against Voorburg, and despite a fluent 64 not out from skipper Musa Ahmad the home side could not come closer than 131 for four.

Daniel Doram again proved the value of accurate spin bowling, taking one for 17 from his four overs, while Overdijk claimed two for 27.

It was Patient Charumbira who excelled with the ball when HCC took on Sparta, taking three for 32 as the Capelle side made 156 for four, with Garnett Tarr making 46 and Will Clark a 36-ball 62.

Jonathan Vandiar contributed 48 when HCC replied, but Joost Kroesen removed both him and Charumbira, and it took a determined 42 not out from 29 deliveries from Hidde Overdijk to get his side over the line with three balls to spare.

Musa Ahmad took his tally for the day to 116 without being dismissed in the final game at Westvliet, steering his side to an eight-wicket victory over Sparta.

Although Mudassar Bukhari made a subdued 37 the Sparta innings never really caught fire, and with Philippe Boissevain taking three for 23 and Musa himself three for 17, they were restricted to a modest 127 for eight.

Nirav Kulkarni (42) then assisted his captain in a second wicket stand of 80, and Voorburg cruised to a comfortable win.

Punjab Rotterdam had some anxious moments as they chased Excelsior ‘20’s 187 for seven, to which Michael Hart had contributed a 26-ball 50, Lorenzo Ingram 42 from 25 and Roel Verhagen 34 from 20.

Sikander Zulfiqar had made sure that the damage wasn’t worse by taking four for 22, and it was his unbeaten 71 from 45 deliveries which eventually settled the issue in Punjab’s favour; he and his elder brother Rehmat came together with their side on 78 for four, and proceeded to add 90 for the fifth wicket.

Tom Heggelman returned to remove Rehmat for 55 and finish with three for 35, but Sikander made sure of the points, again with just three balls remaining.

In the Amsterdamse Bos VRA made short work of Salland, bowling them out for 82 and then taking just 7.4 overs to complete a ten-wicket victory.

Aaaditt Jain and Leon Turmaine picked up two wickets apiece as the Salland batting disintegrated, and Tyler van Luin (55 not out from 26) and Luke Scully (27 not out from 20) knocked off the runs in double-quick time.

At the Hazelaarweg on Sunday VOC bowled HBS out for 114, reducing them to 56 for six before Benno Boddendijk (23) and Martijn Scholte (24) effected a partial recovery; Asief Hoseinbaks, however, removed them both to finish with figures of four for 22.

VOC, though, soon had problems of their own, Ferdi Vink returning to the side for the first time this season and claiming two quick wickets, one of them them the dangerous Lane Berry, and at 42 for five the home side found themselves flirting with defeat.

Arnav Jain and Jelte Schoonheim turned things round with a half-century stand for the sixth wicket, and after Schoonheim had gone for 26 Jain saw his side home, ending on 28 not out as VOC won by three wickets with four balls remaining.