The run-fest which Sri Lanka brought to Amstelveen during the week transferred to Schiedam on Saturday, where Excelsior compiled a massive 346 for three against HBS. It was the third-highest total since the Hoofdklasse moved to 50 overs a side in 2000.

One couldn’t help feeling sorry for Billy Stelling and Alexei Kervezee, who had played in both ODIs, and who now saw the total conceded by their sides in five days pass the 1100 mark. Stelling, troubled by a leg injury, bowled just four overs, but Kervezee took two of the three wickets to fall in his nine overs, conceding 57 runs in the process.

Three large partnerships formed the basis of the Excelsior innings: an opening stand of 121 between Mark Cleary, who made a run-a-ball 72, and Erik Ruts (45); a third-wicket partnership of 119 between Erik Gouka and Daan van Bunge, top-scorer with 74; and an unbeaten stand of 94 between Gouka and Luuk van Troost. Van Troost made 51 from 28 balls, including four consecutive sixes off Kervezee, while Gouka finished with 73.

All the HBS bowlers apart from Stelling suffered, with Sjoerd Weurman conceding 99 in his ten overs.

The match was virtually settled in the first sixteen overs of the HBS innings, with Ali Haider taking four for 37 after Seb Gokke had made the initial breakthrough. The turning point came when Haider dismissed Alexei Kervezee and Grant Elliott with consecutive balls, leaving HBS on 77 for five.

Reinhout Scholte and Stelling now put together a partnership of 136 in 27 overs, but with the required rate steadily rising from 7.5 towards 10 and beyond and spinners Daan van Bunge and Luqman Tariq operating, it was surprising that the batsmen did not adopt a more aggressive policy. Stelling, perhaps hampered by his injury, was particularly cautious, hitting only one boundary between the 23rd over and the dismissal of Scholte in the 42nd.

When Gokke returned to the attack he dismissed Scholte for a fighting 67 with his first ball, and with HBS now needing 14 an over the task was hopeless. Stelling batted through to the end for 81 not out, but Gokke took two more wickets at the other end to finish with four for 55. HBS ended on 265 for nine, 82 runs short of their target.

HCC, meanwhile, secured a five-wicket victory over Voorburg to stay in contention for the title. They bowled the opposition out for 210, with Maurits Jonkman taking five for 48 from his ten overs, and Jason Fenwick three for 23. Ryan Le Loux top-scored for Voorburg with 77, while Sarfraz Gondel made an unbeaten 45.

Voorburg struck back early in the HCC reply with two wickets, but Tom de Grooth and coach Stephanus Myburgh then put together a match-winning partnership for the third wicket. After Myburgh departed for 67 de Grooth held the innings together with a patient knock of 90 not out, HCC hitting the winning runs in the penultimate over.

In the relegation battle in Haarlem, VVV overcame Rood en Wit fairly comfortably, finally writing off the negative balance imposed on them at the start of the season. They restricted Rood en Wit to 181 for nine in their 50 overs, with Enoch Nkwe again top-scoring with 77. Zulfiqar Ali took three for 16, and A.S. Shafiq three for 23.

VVV also lost a couple of early wickets, but Zulfiqar hit 52, and after his departure Mohammad Shabaz (75 not out) and Mohammad Sadiq (31 not out) knocked off the remaining runs, giving their side a seven-wicket victory with more than fourteen overs to spare.

There is a full round of matches on Sunday, with Excelsior now facing HBS in Den Haag and Voorburg taking on HCC again at De Diepput.