Stubbs impresses in Topklasse debut – TKcricket Round-Up #1

Umar Baker and the gang celebrate the dismissal of de Leede (Photo: Sander Tholen)

The Netherlands Topklasse Weekly Update – in partnership with TKcricket

	played	won	lost	tied	n/r	points	x̅ pts	NRR
HCC	1	1	–	–	–	4	2	3.540
HBS	1	1	–	–	–	4	2	3.197
EXC	1	1	–	–	–	4	2	1.371
VOC	1	1	–	–	–	4	2	1.064
DOS	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
PJB	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
VRA	1	–	1	–	–	–	0	-1.064
VCC	1	–	1	–	–	–	0	-1.371
SPT	1	–	1	–	–	–	0	-3.197
ACC	1	–	1	–	–	–	0	-3.540

Excelsior’s new South African (and Dutch passport-holding) recruit Tristan Stubbs announced his arrival on Saturday with a mature knock of 79 not out to guide his side to a six-wicket victory over Voorburg at Thurlede.

Unfazed by an attack which included five Dutch international bowlers, he scored at better than a run a ball for much of his innings, and was well supported by Niels Etman once Shankar (28) had gone with 55 still required.

Against a steady attack Voorburg had struggled to get the scoring rate up towards three an over, and it was only thanks Tom de Grooth and Philippe Boissevain adding 52 for the seventh wicket that they reached 172 for six.

VACC vs HCC at het Loopveld
HCC won by 177 runs
Toss: HCC, who elect to bat
HCC 254-6 (50 overs)
AJ Staal 69, BHG Gorlee 41
ACC 77 ao (36.4 overs)
A Raza 36; C Floyd 5-18

VOC vs VRA at Hazelaarweg
VOC won by 50 runs
Toss: VOC, who elect to bat
Match reduced to 47 overs
VOC 192-9 (47 overs)
SA Edwards 44, TIM de Kok 38
VRA 142 all out (34.4 overs)
BW Hanif 4-31, A Jain 3-31

Excelsior vs VCC at Thurlede
Excelsior won by 6 wickets
Toss: Excelsior, who elect to field
VCC 172-6 (50 overs)
U Baker 3-29
Excelsior 178-4 (37 overs)
T Stubbs 79*

HBS vs Sparta at Craeyenhout
HBS won by 9 wickets
Toss: HBS, who elect to field
Sparta 102 ao (29.5 overs)
R Klein 3-17
HBS 103-1 (19.4 overs)
RP Mason 41*

Dosti vs Punjab at Drieburg
Rescheduled Sunday May 9th

On a day of generally one-sided encounters last year’s title-winners-that-weren’t, HCC, made their intentions clear by overpowering a youthful ACC at Het Loopveld.

Skipper Tonny Staal and fellow-opener Musa Nadeem Ahmad raced to 45 off the first five overs, and they had reached 74 in the twelfth before Mies van Vliet removed Ahmad for 25.

Staal made a 63-ball 69, Boris Gorlee contributed 60 and Hidde Overdijk 33, but ACC fought hard to contain the visitors in the closing stages.

A total of 254 for six always seemed likely to be beyond the Amsterdammers, especially after they found themselves on 8 for three, and despite a dogged captain’s innings from Anis Raza, last man out for 36, they could do no better than 77, Clayton Floyd picking up the first five-wicket haul of the season with five for 18.

At Craeyenhout, HBS made even shorter work of Sparta 1888 after new skipper Ferdi Vink won the toss and inserted the visiting side.

He further seized the initiative by removing Craig Ambrose with the first ball of the second over, and thereafter HBS never took their foot off the pedal, dismissing Sparta for 102 and then knocking off the runs for the loss of just one wicket in 19.4 overs.

Another South African with a Dutch passport, pace man Ryan Klein, took three for 17, while Reece Mason made 41 not out in the run chase.

The match between VOC Rotterdam and VRA Amsterdam was cut to 47 overs because of a damp pitch.

Young Ashir Abid bowled Max O’Dowd before he had scored, but Scott Edwards (43) and Tim de Kok (38) then raced to 73 for one by the end of the 13^th over.

When they went in successive overs VOC were forced to rebuild, but it was left to Arnav Jain to marshal the lower order, and his 33 enabled the Rotterdammers to reach a fairly testing 192 for nine.

When Vikram Singh, Ben Cooper and Peter Borren manage 18 between them VRA generally fall short, and as the score slid to 67 for seven it seemed that VOC were on their way to a thumping victory.

Bobby Hanif had picked up four for 31 and Jain, bowling unchanged, took three for 31, but Mitch Lees and Leon Turmaine lent some respectability to the VRA reply with a stand of 53 for the eighth wicket.

Turmaine stayed to the end, top-scoring with an unbeaten 29, but VRA were dismissed for 142 and VOC claimed a 50-run victory.

The KNCB’s testing regime proved its worth during the week, when a positive test among Dosti’s squad led to the players going into quarantine and Sunday’s scheduled match against Punjab Rotterdam being postponed until 9 May.

Snap of the Day

Hold that pose – Tristan Stubbs made quite the first impression on his Topklasse debut (Photo: Sander Tholen)

Play of the Day

On a day to write home about for the diasporans, Clayton Floyd’s maiden Topklasse five-fer deserves an honourable mention, and might have made this spot were it not for Tristan Stubbs’ dramatic debut at Thurlede. Coming in with his side in trouble – captain Tom Heggelman having limped off the field and wickets tumbling around him – Stubbs wrested the momentum back for the hosts almost single-handed, and that in the face of the strongest attack in the league. His 79* (with 5 fours and 4 sixes) came at better than a run-a-ball in a match where most struggled to strike above 50, and was the only innings of the round that can be said to have decisively turned a game. Indeed it would seem only the modest target stood in the way of a maiden Topkalsse century, which one suspects is not far off.

The Netherlands Topklasse Weekly Update – in partnership with TKcricket

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