Asides

Rod Lyall 07/06/21

It was a tight, low-scoring battle at De Diepput on Saturday, but in the end Punjab Rotterdam prevailed over HCC to edge to the top of the Topklasse table, a single point ahead of Rotterdam rivals VOC.

On a pitch that was never easy for the batters, two stood out: HCC’s Boris Gorlee, who made 68 out of his side’s total of 173, and Punjab’s Asad Zulfiqar, who, in the absence of internationals Stef Myburgh and Saqib Zulfiqar, steadied a faltering ship and saw his team through to a four-wicket victory.

HCC were also without international opener Musa Nadeem Ahmad, but the batting problems which have started to show after a storming start to the season are not solely due to his absence, and they were fully exploited by the Punjab attack, which makes up in guile what it lacks in pace.

Suleiman Tariq removed both openers and then Teja Nidamanuru spun out the middle order, including the wicket of Gorlee, before Tariq’s new-ball partner Sohail Bhatti returned to clean up the tail, although Yash Patel again provided valuable late-order resistance with 34 before he was last man out.

Nidamanuru and Bhatti ended with the same figures, three for 36.

Reinier Bijloos and Hidde Overdijk, a couple of yards faster than Punjab’s seamers, soon had the visitors’ batting under pressure, and with Rehmat and Sikander Zulfiqar and Nidamanuru all gone by the time 30 was on the board that total of 173 looked a lot better than it had half an hour earlier.

But Asad was rock solid at the other end, and in partnership first with Yasir Usman, and then with Tariq and Mudassar Hussain, he steadily worked his way towards the target.

When Hussain went 33 were still needed, and HCC threw everything into a push for the four remaining wickets.

In Irfan ul Haq, however, Asad found the ideal partner in such pressured circumstances, and it was his boundary which sealed the issue with more than four overs to spare.

At Thurlede, VOC Rotterdam were also without their international stars, and were no match for an Excelsior ‘20 attack which had the previous week dismissed HCC for 91.

The match was a personal landmark for Excelsior captain Tom Heggelman, who captured his 300th top flight wicket when he trapped Arnav Jain in front.

VOC’s main resistance came from Dirk van Baren, promoted to open in the absence of Max O’Dowd, and his 46 held the innings together until he was fifth out with the score on 70.

Ramdas Upadhyaya and captain-for the-day Pierce Fletcher managed to get the total into three figures, but with all seven Excelsior bowlers amongst the wickets the total of 102 was well short of what was needed.

Tim Etman chose this moment to hit his way into form, making 44 with four fours and a six, and although VOC took four wickets along the way Excelsior needed only 25.1 overs to complete their ix-wicket victory.

By contrast with these low-scoring encounters, the clash between HBS and VRA Amsterdam at Craeyenhout produced two outstanding centuries before the home side secured a 34-run win.

Tayo Walbrugh’s unbeaten 171, made from 139 deliveries with 16 fours and nine sixes, was a masterly display of hitting, as he treated VRA’s mostly young and inexperienced attack with controlled brutality.

He dominated stands of 93 with Navjit Singh for the third wicket, of 75 with Ryan Klein, and of 72 with Manjinder Singh, and HBS closed on 272 for five after young Ashir Abid had initially reduced them to 32 for two.

VRA then slumped to 51 for five in another top-order batting collapse, Ryan Klein again impressive with pace and accuracy.

But Peter Borren was still there, and when he was joined by Mitch Lees the pair set about reversing the course of the game; together they added 131 for the sixth wicket, and in the process Borren achieved the day’s other major landmark, scoring his 8000th top flight run for VRA when he passed 28.

Benno Boddendijk, who already had three wickets, returned to break the stand by removing Lees for 67, but Borren was not done yet, and although wickets continued to fall at the other end and the asking rate was approaching ten an over, he continued to take the fight to the HBS attack.

He and Abid added 55 for the ninth wicket of which Abid’s contribution was 6, and it was only when Borren, on 104, holed out at deep midwicket trying for another six off Boddendijk, that HBS could regard themselves as safe.

Boddendijk claimed the last to finish with six for 67, while Klein had four for 23.

At Het Loopveld, ACC’s total of 242 for seven against Sparta 1888 was due to contrasting knocks from Ammar Zaidi, whose not out 87 came from 118 deliveries and included just two fours, and Stephan Hannema, who came in with the innings effectively becalmed on 153 for six and smashed a 28-ball 50, including a four and four sixes.

Max Hoornweg had been instrumental in causing the home side early problems and after taking some punishment from Hannema finished with three for 42.

Sparta were in with a chance while Garnett Tarr (63) and Mudassar Bukhari (71) were putting together a fourth-wicket stand of 123, but once Anis Raza had removed them both the middle and lower order again struggled.

With Raza claiming three for 35 and Sahil Kothari three for 33 the innings petered out, and closed on 193 for nine, giving ACC a 49-run victory.

Voorburg, without four internationals, made short work of Dosti United at Sportpark Drieburg on Sunday, bowling them out for just 64 and knocking off the runs in 14.5 overs to win by nine wickets.

Karl Nieuwoudt, given the new ball in the absence of Viv Kingma and Logan van Beek, celebrated by claiming three wickets in his first three overs, and Dosti never recovered from this onslaught.

Satish Ravichandran was the only man to reach double figures, his 22 contributing a third of his side’s runs, while Nieuwoudt finished with four for 22 and Ali Ahmed Qasim three for 13.

Aryan Dutt made sure of the points with a rapid 38 not out, hitting seven fours and a six, as Voorburg moved level with VOC on points and into second place on net run rate.

The rain was gone at last, and with the sun on their backs the batters mostly celebrated on Saturday, with three centuries posted and the totals of the sides batting first generally well over 200.

The main exception was at Thurlede, where HCC, after winning the toss, were bundled out for 91 by a rampant Excelsior ‘20 and lost by 6 wickets, their first defeat of the season.

It would have been even worse but for some late-order resistance from Dietmar Hennop and Olivier Klaus, the only men apart from opener Daniël Trijzelaar to achieve double figures, for at one stage the Hagenaars were on 59 for seven.

Chief destroyer was spinner Umar Baker, whose ten-over spell yielded four wickets at a cost of 20 runs, while seamer Rens van Troost tied up the other end with two for 13.

The home side’s top order did not find conditions any more to their liking when they replied, however, and with Clayton Floyd and Reinier Bijloos collecting two wickets apiece they soon found themselves on 10 for four.

HCC saw their chance of an improbable victory, but it was steadily taken away from them by Tristan Stubbs and Sanjit Shankar who, cautiously at first but with increasing momentum, knocked off the remaining runs, Stubbs finishing it with successive sixes to end on 44 not out. Shankar made an unbeaten 35.

The highest total of the day came in Amstelveen, where hosts VRA Amsterdam posted 302 for six and beat winless Dosti United Amsterdam by 133 runs.

Foundation of VRA’s big score was a second-wicket stand of 143 between Vikram Singh (103) and Shirase Rasool (73), with Peter Borren and Eric Szwarczynski both chipping in before Mitch Lees made a 21-ball 32 not out in the closing stages.

Leg-spinner Vinoo Tewarie, who broke the big partnership by trapping Rasool in front, was the most successful of Dosti’s bowlers with two for 39 from nine overs.

The Dosti top order, reinforced by the return of Rahil Ahmed, showed signs of improvement, reaching 102 for two before Udit Nashier with three for 18, supported by Borren’s experience, caused a rapid decline, and the last eight wickets fell for 63 runs.

It seemed for a time that Punjab Rotterdam’s total against Sparta 1888 at the Bermweg would dwarf even VRA’s, as Rehmat Zulfiqar (80) and Stef Myburgh (63) put on a rapid opening stand of 147.

But the home side managed to put on the brakes, and with Nasrat Ibrahimkhil taking three for 36 and Max Hoornweg and Joost Martijn Snoep claiming two apiece, Punjab had to be content with a total of 285 for nine.

But that proved to be plenty, as apart from thirties from Ali Raza and the dependable Mudassar Bukhari Sparta’s batting again crumbled, and they were all out for 106 in under 35 overs.

The wickets were shared, with Suleiman Tariq, Sikander Zulfiqar, Mubashar Hussain and Teja Nidamanuru all picking up a couple.

The pattern was reversed at Westvliet, where Voorburg were in early trouble at 42 for three against a determined ACC, before they were rescued by a superb fourth-wicket stand of 194 between Sybrandt Engelbrecht and Aryan Dutt.

Engelbrecht’s unbeaten 129, made from 125 deliveries with ten fours, was the highest individual core of the day, and he was well supported by Dutt, who made 77 before he was run out by ACC skipper Anis Raza.

Raza had tried eight bowlers in his quest for a breakthrough, but only Sahil Kothari and Mees van Vliet with the new ball had been able to cause the batters serious problems.

Opener Kothari also anchored the ACC reply, his steadying 51 the only effort able to withstand the Voorburg attack, but once he was the seventh man out with the total on 100 the end came quickly.

Viv Kingma cleaned up the tail to finish with four for 20 as ACC, reduced to ten men by the absence of Devanshu Arya, were all out for 105 and lost by 139 runs.

The day’s closest match was at the Hazelaarweg, where HBS Craeyenhout tested leaders VOC Rotterdam more severely than might be suggested by the latter’s eventual 76-run margin.

They owed their total of 225 for seven to captain Pieter Seelaar, whose 108 not out enabled them to recover from a perilous 88 for five and was his first century for the club.

He was ably assisted by Ayaaz Durrani, who contributed 41 before being run out, while there were two wickets apiece for Ryan Klein, Julian de Mey and Navjit Singh.

HBS offered a spirited response, but only Navjit Singh (53) was able to build on a promising start, and by the time he was eighth out with the total on 129 any chance of a successful chase was long past

Young leg-spinner Siebe van Wingerden again caused the batters plenty of problems, and he was the most successful of VOC’s bowlers with three for 30.

At Sportpark Drieberg on Sunday HBS had the better of their postponed fourth-round match, beating a steadily-improving Dosti United by 39 runs.

HBS appeared to be heading for a sizable total while Tayo Walbrugh was sharing a third-wicket stand of 69 with Navjit Singh and going on to make 72, but once Tewarie had trapped him LBW the innings lost some momentum, and it took useful late contributions from Julian de Mey and Adil Ahmed to get the total up to 215.

Tewarie claimed four for 48 for Dosti, while Asief Hoseinbaks bowled economically without being rewarded with a wicket.

Rahil Ahmed led the Dosti reply, and when he and Mahesh Hans were adding 68 for the fourth wicket it seemed that their first win for nearly two years was a real possibility.

Once he was run out for 78, however, the chance dissipated, and the side was dismissed for 176, Ryan Klein taking four for 21 for HBS.