VRA Amsterdam opened up the race for the Hoofdklasse title on Sunday with a three-wicket victory over VOC Rotterdam, while HCC kept up the pressure by securing a last-over win against Voorburg, their second victory against these opponents in as many days.

HBS and Quick also won to stay in contact with the top three, and it now seems likely that the competition will remain very tight until the end of August.

The match in Amstelveen was a thrilling affair, with VOC frequently finding themselves on the ropes but refusing to go down for the count. It seemed to be all over when the Rotterdam side, having won the toss and elected to bat, were reduced to 80 for six in 16 overs, effectively for seven with opener Maarten van Ierschot having retired hurt after being hit on the helmet by a bouncer from Mike Smith.

That gave VRA their initial breakthrough, and they exploited it to the full, Peter Borren bowling a great spell for three for 30 and Victor Grandia, in his most lively and accurate form, taking two for 10 in a first, six-over spell.

That VOC were not bowled out for under a hundred was due to a magnificent chanceless innings from coach Michael Dighton, who remained solid through all the destruction at the other end and carried his bat for 115, and Mohammad Kashif, who supported Dighton in a 58-run partnership for the seventh wicket which lasted nearly an hour and a quarter and gave van Ierschot time to recover sufficiently to return to the crease.

Kashif’s 26 was worth far more than the runs themselves, and van Ierschot, batting with a runner, showed great character in helping Dighton with another half-century stand which saw the coach to his century and the total past the 200. Dighton batted for three and a half hours and hit nine fours and a six in his 144-ball innings, but when van Ierschot fell to a great running and diving catch by Ryan Maron the remaining batsmen followed quickly, and the innings closed on 209. Grandia finished with three for 18.

Wickets fell fairly regularly in the VRA reply, and although Wesley Barresi (43) and Mike Smith (30) both got a decent start, by the time they were 147 for seven in the 35th over it seemed likely that VOC would pull off a remarkable win. Their trump card was the spin bowling of Kashif and Robbie de Widt, who took two wickets each, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a defiant eighth-wicket partnership between Peter Borren and Garth Brown.

On a wicket that seemed only a very distant cousin of its next-door neighbour, on which the Sri Lankans and the Dutch had scored more than 1200 runs earlier in the week, Borren and Brown carefully worked their way towards the target. Further tension was added to the situation by looming rain clouds, since under Hoofdklasse rules, average run-rate decides the result should a game be rained off after the 35th over of the second innings.

With VRA hovering just on the required rate of 4.18 an over, first they and then their opponents held a narrow advantage. The batsmen refused an offer of the light, and gradually, as the final target approached, the runs began to flow a little more freely. Borren made 54 from 73 balls and Brown 29 from 46 in their stand of 63, and VRA won with two overs to spare.

The weather also threatened to take a decisive hand in Den Haag, where HCC were chasing a Voorburg total of 223. Largely due to a solid third-wicket partnership between Dirk Rijkens and sixteen-year-old Bob Entrop, who made 42, HCC were comfortably set on 211 for three after 47.1 overs when rain drove the players from the field.

The average run rate rule meant, however, that VCC were slightly ahead: one ball of the 48th over having been bowled, HCC needed 215 to take the points, since an over started is counted as a full one.

Fortunately the weather relented, and they went back on. Rijkens, who had been on 96 not out at the break, completed his century, and although HCC lost a couple more wickets, they began the final over needing eight to win with five wickets in hand. Off the fifth ball Rijkens hit Tim de Leede for six, and HCC were home. It’s the third time this season that Voorburg have lost in the final over, and it would be surprising if it were not beginning to get to them.

Earlier, their total had been built around a 73 from opener Gijs Bins, while de Leede contributed another valuable 43. For HCC, Mark Jonkman took three for 33.

Seldom has the old truism about cricket being a funny game been better illustrated than at HBS, where Excelsior, having made 346 for three at home to the same opponents the day before, were bowled out for 103 in 37.2 overs. While not quite on the scale of the case of Victoria, who in 1926-27 made a world-record 1107 against New South Wales in Melbourne and were then dismissed for 35 in the return, it’s still quite a turnaround. Rasul Abed was the most successful of the HBS bowlers with three for 26.

HBS had little difficulty knocking off the runs in 25 overs, Robert van Oosterom (who returned to the Hoofdklasse last week and who didn’t play on Saturday) making 60 not out.

VVV Amsterdam, after registering their first win of the season against Rood en Wit on Saturday, lost a close-fought encounter with Hermes-DVS in Schiedam. The home side, after winning the toss, made 217, Lou Borrani top-scoring with 77. Mohammad Sadiq took three for 53, and then led the way in the VVV reply with 64. It wasn’t enough, however, and the Amsterdam side were dismissed for 197 two overs from the end, having been penalised three overs for a slow over-rate. For Hermes Erik Hartong took four catches.

It was a similar story in Haarlem, where Rood en Wit failed by 50 runs in chasing Quick Haag’s 239 for nine. But the home side were 116 for one at one point, and collapsed from there to 189 all out. A second-wicket partnership of 82 between Enoch Nkwe (56) and Maarten Barnhoorn (42) had put them in a winning position, but with Henk-Jan Mol taking four for 29 the rest of the batting was unable to finish the job.

Quick’s total had been built around a series of thirties, Geert Maarten Mol making 38 and Jeroen Brand 37. Captain Fahrad Sardha was again the most successful of the Rood en Wit bowlers with three for 30.