Kampong Utrecht stormed back into the Dutch Topklasse in their opening game on Sunday, dismissing VOC Rotterdam for just 86 and then requiring only ten and a half overs to knock off the runs to complete a nine-wicket victory.

Put in to bat, VOC’s innings never really got out of first gear, only 27 runs coming from the opening powerplay for the loss of two wickets as seamers Shashank Kumar, Kirtan Nana and Alex Roy maintained the pressure on a helpful Maarschalkerweerd surface.

In retrospect Pieter Recordon’s patient 18 – the top score and one of only three in double figures –  looks like a much better innings than it did at the time, but once Pierre Jacod trapped him in front the spinners took over, and the remaining seven wickets fell for 41 runs in the space of 16 and a half overs.

Jacod finished with four for 24, and new signing Lorenzo Ingram collected three for 12 as the Bloodhounds’ innings crumbled.

The home side’s batters then set about maximising their net run rate advantage, Damien van den Berg and Max O’Dowd taking 28 off the first four overs before Roman Harhangi removed Van den Berg for 17.

But that brought Lane Berry to the crease, and he unleashed a savage attack, smashing four fours and three sixes in a 22-ball onslaught which earned him 41 runs, while O’Dowd finished with an unbeaten 24 at the other end.

Defending champions Punjab-Ghausia Rotterdam, on the other hand, were made to battle almost all the way against a defiant HBS Craeyenhout before a 171-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Mohsin Riaz and skipper Sikander Zulfiqar decisively took the game away from the Crows.

Although HBS captain Tayo Walbrugh contributed 56, his side were in trouble at 129 for six against Punjab’s spinners, but Kyle Klein (58) and Elmar Boendermaker (59) turned the innings round with a seventh-wicket stand of 89, and the home side managed to reach a competitive 238 for eight.

It looked like it might be enough when pacemen Lehan Botha and Klein reduced the champions to 60  for four, especially since Saqib Zulfiqar had pulled a hamstring and was unlikely to bat, but Riaz and Sikander steadied the ship and gradually took control.

Riaz’s 111, made from 85 deliveries with 15 fours and three sixes, was his fourth Topklasse century, while Sikander Zulfiqar remained 71 not out, hitting eight fours, the last of them the winning boundary, and facing 96 balls.

There was a similar story at Sportpark Bermweg, where Voorburg’s hearts fluttered briefly as their batters set out in chase of Sparta 1888’s total of 210.

Former international Ahsan Malik grabbed two early wickets, as he has done so often, but at 31 for two returning overseas Gavin Kaplan was joined by Bas de Leede, turning out for his old club under a dispensation which allows a player to appear in the Dutch competition as well as one abroad when he returns to the club which raised him.

The pair put on 124 for the third wicket, De Leede making 57 of them in a knock which bodes well for the upcoming League 2 series against Canada and the UAE, and then Kaplan and skipper Noah Croes saw the 2023 champions home, Kaplan finishing it with back-to-back boundaries to end on 85 not out.

Earlier, Sparta had battled hard to set a defendable total, Kyle Klesse top-scoring with 41 before he was most unfortunately run out by a direct hit from Bas de Leede’s younger brother Tom after a misunderstanding with fellow-overseas  Lucas Boorer.

Not for the first time, Umar Baker contributed valuable runs as he batted with the tail, the last two Sparta wickets adding 42, while Udit Nashier was the most successful of the Voorburg bowlers, claiming three for 40 in his first outing with his new club.

His former outfit, VRA Amsterdam, enjoyed their day in the Amsterdamse Bos, posting the highest total of the round with a solid 253 for six, and then dismissing Excelsior ’20 Schiedam for 85 to win by 168 runs and take second place on the table.

Excelsior’s attack was able to make little impression on VRA’s strong top order, opener Vikram Singh making 46, Johan Smal 64 and Teja Nidamanuru 48.

Then the new-ball pairing of Ben Fletcher and Peter Ruffell removed the openers before Shariz Ahmad ran through the rest of the batting, claiming five for 27; it was his sixth five-wicket haul in the Topklasse and leaves him one short of 100 wickets.

He received good support from dubutant Darsh Abhinay, who took two for 10 in three overs, including that of Raynard van Tonder, whose 43 showed that he will be a key player for Excelsior this season but who will clearly need to find some teammates to stay in the middle with him.

There was a similar batting collapse at De Diepput, where HCC fell apart against Excelsior’s Schiedam rivals Hermes-DVS and succumbed by 93 runs.

Hermes got off to an outstanding start after Boris Gorlee won the toss and put them in, Aryan Dutt and Ashley Ostling compiling an opening stand of 103 before Oliver White had Ostling caught at slip by Tonny Staal for 39.

That was the cue for a dramatic collapse, two more wickets falling for the addition of just one run, and the rest of the batting able to add only 88 as the Lions fought back well.

Dutt went on to make 79, his highest in the Topklasse, and Sahil Kothari contributed a dogged 30, but with Hidde Overdijk taking three for 34 and White, Daniel Crowley and Henrico Venter picking up two apiece, the innings closed on 192.

That proved to be plenty, and after Ralph Elenbaas had removed White Roy Numair took three quick wickets for 23, including an outstanding return catch to remove Staal, before Hikmatullah Jabarkhail, on his Topklasse debut, claimed three more at a cost of 21, and HCC were in desperate trouble on 59 for seven.

Yash Patel and Mark Wolfe put up some resistance, but Sahil Kothari finished things off, taking three for 4 from 25 deliveries, and HCC were all out for 99.