Voorburg made history on Saturday by winning the Netherlands’ top women’s competition, the Hoofdklasse, for the first time.
The achievement is all the more remarkable because the club only entered the 40-over competition for in 2018, although they had been taking part in the T20 Cup since 2012.
After heading the table all season, Voorburg maintained their unbeaten record with a seven-wicket victory over VRA Amsterdam at Westvliet, bowling their opponents out for 84 and needing only 17.4 overs to knock off the runs.
Appropriately, it was international Babette de Leede who finished things off with two consecutive sixes to end on 18 not out and to bring her season’s tally to 347 runs in six innings.
She is not, however, the competition’s leading run-scorer, having one run less than Quick Haag’s Robine Rijke, who made 132 on Saturday as second-placed Quick ran up an imposing 311 for six and beat Rood en Wit Haarlem by 164 runs.
Rijke will have the opportunity to add to her tally next week, when Quick play VRA in the final round of matches; Voorburg have a bye then, but are out of reach at the top of the table, while Quick are secure in second, seven points ahead of VRA.
There was just one match in Denmark’s Elite Division this weekend, and it turned out to be a thriller.
KB were at Ishøj, and after winning the toss they made 231 for nine, their most substantial partnership a stand of 88 for the sixth wicket between Keith Dabengwa (48) and Zakria Raja (40).
Ishøj were soon 49 for three when they replied, Bahir Shah having claimed all three wickets, but partnerships of 54 between Ali Shah (34) and Absar Khan (52) for the fourth wicket and then of 55 between Absar and Delawar Khan (37) for the fifth took them to 158 for five.
But then KB struck back, Bashir crucially removing Absar, and 33 were still needed with only two wickets in hand when Hassan Sayed joined Pawan Kumar at the crease.
These two paced the chase perfectly, however, and five were needed when Zubair Jamal began the final over.
Sayed took a two and a three, and Ishøj had pulled off a notable victory.
The win brings Ishøj level on eight points with their three main rivals for the title, Svanholm, Skanderborg and KB, but Skanderborg and Ishøj have a game in hand. Herning, with two games in hand, are also not entirely out of the running.
In Jersey, Farmers Caesareans recovered from a disappointing start to their 40-over campaign with a thumping win over ten-man St Ouen Springfield at Farmers Field, thanks to a 96-ball knock of 106 from opener Nick Ferraby.
Ferraby shared stands of 64 with Joel Dudley and 77 with Josh Lawrenson, and after he departed Asa Tribe took over, making 54 not out.
But it was Charles Perchard who lit up the closing overs, smacking a 37-ball 69 which included five fours and three sixes, and Farmers finished with 308 for five.
Then Perchard took five for 11 to run through St Ouen’s middle order, only Ollie Nightingale standing firm with 57 before he was the last man out with the total on 154.
Tribe and Lawrenson were in action again on Sunday, this time in the colours of Jersey Under-19s, and were again on the winning side as the juniors overpowered the Walkovers at Grainville.
Batting first, Walkovers could only manage 125, Ross Chadwick top-scoring with 38 and Toby Britton taking three for 21 for the U19s, with Tribe and Lawrenson picking up a couple of wickets apiece.
The U19s needed only 20 overs to complete their six-wicket victory, with Stanley Norman making 33 and Lawrenson 31.
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