VRA Amsterdam’s chance of securing back-to-back Hoofdklasse titles improved significantly on Sunday, as rivals VOC Rotterdam lost at HBS. The defending champions, meanwhile, maintained their own winning run with a crushing 176-run over Quick Haag.

The batting highlight of the day was unquestionably Mike Smith’s 150 for VRA, made in two-and-a-half hours off 111 balls, and including eight fours and four sixes. Smith joined captain Darrin Murray at 50 for three, after Quick’s opening bowlers Darron Reekers and Somesh Kohli had taken full advantage of Dirk Brouwer’s decision to field first.

Murray was never completely comfortable, but he gave Smith solid support in a 138-run partnership in which the latter was always in control. On another great batting wicket and a fast outfield, he took 45 balls for his first fifty, 40 for the second, and 24 for the third. VRA’s centuries are like the legendary No. 44 bus: you don’t see one for ages, and then several come along at once. Victor Grandia’s 112 not out on Saturday was the club’s first Hoofdklasse hundred since 2003, and now there was a second within 24 hours.

Most of the Quick bowlers suffered, but Henk-Jan Mol put in a great spell of ten overs for none for 37, conceding just one boundary, and Darron Reekers was even more economical with two for 35. After Murray was dismissed for 46 keeper Jeroen Westermann gave Smith more support, contributing a rapid 39 not out in the final overs to bring the total to 308.

Quick never looked likely to challenge this target, and with Peter Borren bowling Reekers, Mol run out by another Ryan Maron direct hit, and the dangerous Faiek Davids stumped in Wesley Barresi’s first over, they were 72 for five and the game was effectively over. Youngsters Stijn Allema and Thijs Fischer resisted for a while, but the innings eventually closed on 132 – the same total Quick had made against VVV on Saturday – in the 35th over. Borren, with two for 13, was again the pick of the VRA bowlers.

Meanwhile in Den Haag, HBS achieved a notable victory over VOC, becoming only the second club to beat the Rotterdammers this season. After a slow start the home side did well to reach 216 for seven, putting on 77 in the last ten overs with Alexei Kervezee hitting a crucial 66 not out. Earlier, Robert van Oosterom had again proved his worth to the side with a patient 36.

On the evidence of the campaign so far 217 should have been well within VOC’s capabilities, but with key batsman Michael Dighton going comparatively cheaply it became more of a struggle. Maarten van Ierschot (48)and Bas Zuiderent (41) took the score to 89, and then Chris Smith held the middle part of the innings together, so that VOC needed 72 off the last ten overs with five wickets in hand.

Wickets continued to fall at the other end, however, and Smith was finally eighth out for 50, with 34 still needed. VOC were eventually all out for 192 three overs from the end, Sjoerd Weurman taking four for 37 for HBS.

Some key games were also played in the battle to avoid relegation, with Rood en Wit edging ahead of VVV once more by securing a valuable win over Hermes-DVS. Their victory was achieved through another dramatic Hermes batting collapse: after openers Lou and Renzo Borrani had put on 77, having been put in by Rood en Wit’s Farhad Sardha, the rest of the side could only add another 60, with spinners Sardha and Moenir Bhoelan taking eight wickets between them. Bhoelan had five for 19, and Sardha three for 17. For Hermes Renzo Borrani made 54, and Lou 33; no-one else reached double figures.

Rood en Wit proceeded steadily towards this modest target, never seeming in real danger of falling short. Opener Rif Bakas made 29 and Maarten Barnhoorn 39 as they got there in the 42nd over with four wickets in hand, Pieter Seelaar and Renzo Borrani the most successful of the Hermes bowlers with two for 26 and two for 24 respectively.

VVV were on the wrong end of a four-wicket win, losing by that margin to HCC at De Diepput. After collapsing to 67 for six, with Mark Jonkman taking three for 9, they were rescued by Rizwan Akram’s 56 not out, and managed to get through to 159 before they were all out. Jonkman finished with three for 31, and Jason Fenwick and Jacob-Jan Esmeijer took a couple of wickets each.

HCC suffered a bizarre early loss when opener Dirk Rijkens was out hit wicket, his bat having flown baseball-style out of his hands, over his head and into his stumps, but a solid partnership between Feiko Kloppenburg and Stephanus Myburgh put them back in control, Kloppenburg making 40 and Myburgh finishing with 72 not out as his side made the runs with ten overs to spare.

Voorburg’s frustrating season continued in Schiedam, where they failed by just 7 runs chasing Excelsior’s 256 for eight. It was a familiar story: they were on 189 for four with almost 20 overs left, but once coach Ryan Le Loux was out for 61 the rest of the batting was unable to finish the job and they were dismissed in the 47th over for 249. Adeel Raja, back in the opening slot after his half-century on Saturday, had made 44, but with Mark Cleary taking three for 15 in ten overs and spinner Luqman Tariq two for 14 VCC were not quite good enough.

Cleary also made another important contribution with the bat, making 61 and helping Daan van Bunge rescue the side after they were 25 for two early on. Van Bunge went on to make 91, while Tariq hit an invaluable 59 in the closing stages of the Excelsior innings. Seamer Shazad Anwar was the most effective of the Voorburg bowlers with three for 28.

It's too soon for VRA to be putting the champagne on ice, and with half-a-dozen matches to go there is still room for some further twists and turns in a season which has been a good deal more exciting than many people expected. But there's no question they look stronger and more confident than they did a few weeks ago, and their rivals will now be hoping that they experience another attack of vulnerability on the run in.