Ninth-placed VOC Rotterdam sprang the surprise of the season so far with a hard-fought three-wicket victory over leaders Kampong Utrecht at Hazelaarweg on Monday.

The win was spearheaded by 19-year-old Aaditt Jain, who grabbed three wickets inside the first nine overs to reduce Kampong to 38 for three.

A partial recovery by Lachlan Bangs and Lorenzo Ingram was halted by the spin of Siebe van Wingerden, who removed both, and it took a fighting 56 from Pierre Jacod to get the leaders up to a moderately respectable 188, Aaditt Jain returning to collect another and finish with four for 40.

VOC soon found themselves of 25 for two when they replied, but Scott Janett and Christiaan Oberholzer combined in a stand of 94 for the third wicket, turning the game back the Bloodhounds’ way. 

Oberholzer’s dismissal for 33, followed by that of Scott Janett, who made a fine 85, gave Kampong some hope, and with four wickets falling for 18 runs it seemed that VOC might again implode.

But Aaditt Jain now joined elder brother Arnav at the crease, and in growing tension they knocked off the remaining runs to give their side victory with two deliveries to spare.

Meanwhile, at the Loopuyt Oval, second-placed Hermes-DVS were unable to capitalise on Kampong’s defeat, losing to HCC by three wickets in another tight, low-scoring encounter.

The Lions’ pace attack never allowed the Hermes innings to gain any momentum after Sebastiaan Braat had elected to bat, Hidde Overdijk taking four for 22 and Teun Leijer three for 16 as the home side were dismissed for 151 in 39.2 overs. Hermes opener Daniel Doyle-Calle top-scored with 31.

The Hermes attack, so often the key to their success this season, struck back early in the HCC response, and at 73 for five the chase appeared to be faltering.

But with runs at a premium Shashank Banerjee’s 30 before he was run out by a smart direct hit from Doyle proved instrumental in HCC’s win; only eight more were required when he departed, and Daniel Crowley (30 not out) and Overdijk saw their side home with nine overs left.

HCC’s victory brought them to within one point of Hermes and three of Kampong, and they were joined there by two more Monday winners: Voorburg and Punjab-Ghausia.

In the only game where overs were lost, a delayed start at Westvliet reducing each side to 47 overs, Voorburg imposed themselves on Sparta 1888 almost from the outset, a destructive ten-over spell from veteran medium-pacer Usman Malik yielding figures of four for 16 and reducing Sparta from 46 for one to 88 for six.

After some resistance from Manminder Singh and Umar Baker, Floris de Lange claimed three for 6 in nine deliveries, and Sparta were all out for 133.

Voorburg needed only 25.1 overs to secure an eight-wicket victory, Carl Mumba hitting a 29-ball 30 to get the innings moving and Cedric de Lange making 51, leaving Gavin Kaplan and Tom de Leede to finish the job.

On a day when bowlers were generally in charge, the highest scores came at the Zomercomplex, where Musa Ahmad’s unbeaten 114, including six fours and four sixes, was the spine of Punjab-Ghausia’s total of 259 for seven.

Musa shared a second-wicket stand of 76 with Shoaib Minhas (52), and then batted through to the end, a flurry of boundaries taking him to his third Topklasse centuries despite wickets falling at the other end.

A hard-hitting 18-ball 32 from Reece Mason gave HBS a brisk start, and when Tayo Walbrugh (46) and Lehan Botha (68) put on 106 for the third wicket in just 20 overs the Crows seemed on course for a notable victory.

But then Punjab’s spinners reasserted themselves, Musa removing Botha and Minhas Walbrugh to set in train an HBS collapse which ended with their being all out for 221, Saqib Zulfiqar celebrating his return to fitness with three for 46.

In a crucial battle on the fringes of the relegation zone, VRA Amsterdam got the better of Excelsior ‘20 at Thurlede, although the Schiedammers’ batters showed more fight than they had when the two sides met on the opening day of the season.

Again it was the bowlers who were largely on top, 42 from skipper Johan Smal and 53 from Jack Cassidy the most significant contributions to VRA’s somewhat under-par total of 197 all out.

Jason Ralston claimed three for 24 in nine overs, including the wicket of Cassidy, while Antum Naqvi took three for 30 and Niels Etman two for 36.

The Amsterdammers’ four-man seam attack then cut through the Excelsior top order, and at 54 for five there were echoes of that opening-day game, in which the side had been dismissed for 85.

Captain Roel Verhagen was still there, however, and he shared partnerships with Joost Kroesen, Etman and Ralston which took the total up to 150.

Once he found himself batting with last man Jens Blankestijn with 45 still required, Verhagen concluded that attack was his only option, hitting Sharad Hake for two sixes before the bowler had his revenge, trapping him in front to 80 to finish the innings on 175.

Hake finished with four for 37, while Ashir Abid, who had done much of the early damage, took three for37.

The win edged VRA a little further towards mid-table, but with VOC now level on points with Excelsior, it is only net run rate which prevents the Schiedammers from slipping down into one of the two automatic relegation spots.