Long before it was known that we would have a shortened season, even before the second lockdown and the curfew the players of VCC 3 expressed their intention to compete for the title in the 3e Klasse and help VCC achieve the goal to have a team in the 2e Klasse.
As a private initiative, in October they rented out the Sparta facilities to be able to train during the winter months, which unfortunately was cut short due to the Corona measurements. In February when the temperatures felt spring-like, the boys tested the nets already.
When the vaccination program had started, the guys could not wait to start their first internal games and when finally the league started in July, it was fair to say they were up for the challenge.
And so it proved. In a group with Hilversum 1, Centurions 2, ACC 3, Hermes DVS 3, Quick 3, VVV 5 and Qui Vive 6 the team clearly stood out with 7 wins, crowning themselves champions. The only fiercely contested match was versus Qui Vive (won by 2 runs), the easiest win was versus VVV (although after VVV was 39 ao, VCC 3 managed to loose 4 wickets in 7 overs before scoring the winning runs).
A great achievement from the team of captain Rohit Khanna in close cooperation with his peer from VCC 4 Kalyan Rayala, who supported the team throughout the season with players, advice and even a single appearance in the last match.
It is nice to see such a nice mixture of individuals. long-term serving VCC players (still in their prime or somewhat in the autumn of their career), newbees, deeply involved or scratching the surface of club life: you could find all different categories in VCC 3.
Some stats in the end in the 7 league matches played:
Leading batsmen
- Naman Upadhyay (312 runs with an average of 104.0)
- Rohit Khanna (292 runs with an average of 41.7)
Leading bowlers
- Ashish Babu (13 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate of 2.85)
- Vishal Patil (11 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate of 4.29)
The final match on Sunday August 22 versus Hermes DVS was exemplary for the season. Despite the weather both teams were very keen to play and managed to play 2×25 overs in a short time frame, a.o. by bowling all overs from one side. Naman (79*) and Rohit (45) laid the foundation for a phenomenal total of 228 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 25 overs.
Hermes put up a brave fight, but the required run rate of 9 per over soon disappeared and despite some very nice efforts, VCC’s bowling was too good, Ashish leading the attack: 6 wickets for 10 runs in 3.3 overs. Showing off for his 15-year old son Aarin who stepped in because of a last-minute cancellation.
An excellent over-all performance and the team celebrated with champaign on the pitch of Hermes DVS. Looking forward to see this team in the 2e Klasse next season!
Well done Team VCC 3.
All the best for your future matches.
Many congrats! Well done, men!
Congrats guys! Thoroughly deserved!