Top class VCC performed the almost impossible in a brilliant game. When Excelsior ’20 got to 197 runs in 120 balls, the win could hardly escape the Schiedammers. Still, Gavin Kaplan and Sybrand Engelbrecht managed to take the win with unparalleled batting.
The visitors’ opening batsmen took the Voorburg attack atrociously from the start. In the fourth over, Gavin Kaplan broke the partnership by bowling Tim Etman (44/1).
The run rate had to come down quickly from the Voorburg perspective. Stan van Troost was dropped, however, and the partnership for the second wicket ran to 80. Lefthander Roel Verhagen was especially destructive with 70 runs off 39 balls.
It was now up to VCC to keep Excelsior under 200. However, the ‘onslaught’ continued and after twenty overs a very high score of 197 runs was on the scoreboard. In the Voorburg offense, Mees van Vliet stayed up 1-26.
Innings VCC
Michael Levitt and Nehaan Gigani got off to an energetic start. They put 48/1 on the scoreboard in the fourth over (Levitt 28 off 12 balls). In this phase Excelsior also held on to a second catching chance (52/2), but after ten overs VCC was quite nicely on course for a successful runchase through offensive batting.
The tension increased, and it was precisely during this phase that Excelsior left the fielding lacking. Balls that should have yielded one run were turned into twos by the lightning-fast running Kaplan and Engelbrecht. The ground-filing became weaker and in addition, the Schiedammers missed at least four catching opportunities.
Still, from the last 12 balls, 30 runs had to be made. Kaplan and Engelbrecht, meanwhile, saw the cricket ball as big as a beach ball and were hitting ball after ball out of the field. Ralston’s penultimate over went for 17 runs and on the penultimate ball of the match, Kaplan kept the win in Voorburg with a monumental 81 not out off 52 balls. Engelbrecht had provided perfect support with 64 not out off 43 balls.
Also wins for HCC and HBS
HCC defeated VRA 138-118. Tonny Staal (31) and Conor McInerney (34) made runs before Patient Charumbira (31 not out) provided a productive tail. HCC could make good use of these extra runs in the closing overs, as VRA did not get beyond 118 (Vikram Singh 32, Adam Leonard 4-11).
Finally, HBS grabbed the lead in the T20 Top Class through regular wins over Sparta, which put 123 runs in the books (Scheepers 45). Thanks to a smooth 42 by Matthew de Villiers and 49 not out by Wesley Barresi, the Haagaars routinely went past the Capellenaren.
The T20 final day is on Sunday, May 26. The internationals will then be in the United States for the World Cup and that could well cause shifting panels in the cricket league.
Standings at the head of the T20 Topklasse
- HBS 5-10
- VCC 6-10
- VRA 8-10
- Hermes DVS 8-8
- HCC 6-8
- VOC 6-5
