Step by step, Kampong Utrecht are moving towards the club’s first national championship since 1992, their nine-wicket victory over Hermes-DVS on Saturday, combined with HCC’s defeat at the hands of HBS Craeyenhout opening up a five-point gap between the leaders and their nearest challengers.

With five rounds left, Alex Roy’s team would now need to lose three of their remaining matches to leave any opportunity for their pursuers, more than they have lost in the 13 rounds played so far.

It would be defficult to exaggerate the extent of Kampong’s dominance at Maarschalkerweerd on Saturday: they never allowed Hermes’ batters to get out of first gear, the spin attack comprising Lorenzo Ingram, Akhil Gopinath and Pierre Jacod taking eight wickets between them at a combined economy rate of scarcely more than two per over as the Sky-blues battled their way to 132 all out in 49.5 overs.

It was Gopinath whose spell was most crucial, as he removed danger-man Daniel Doyle for 34 before adding the scalps of Asad Zulfiqar and Mussayab Jamil at a cost of just 17 runs; Jacod cleaned up the tail to finish with three for 27.

Kampong then needed only 13.5 overs to reach their target, the only wicket to fall that of Max O’Dowd, bowled by Olivier Elenbaas with the total on 44.

Damien van den Berg (50 not out) and Lane Berry (62 not out) then knocked off the remaining runs in nine overs, Berry facing only 32 balls and hitting five fours and six sixes, 56 of his runs coming in boundaries.

At Craeyenhout HBS, reinforced by former South African Test players Heino Kuhn and Roelof van der Merwe, posted 267 for seven against HCC, their innings anchored by skipper Tayo Walbrugh with 101.

Kuhn’s 33 in partnership with Walbrugh began a recovery from 57 for three, but it was a stand of 121 for the fifth wicket with Lucas del Bianco (59) which gave the Crows a defendable score.

Boris Gorlee again led the way for his side after both openers had been removed with 28 on the board, but when Kuhn and Van der Merwe combined to dismiss him for 64 as he lofted the latter into the covers, the Lions were left with too much to do.

Mark Wolfe (32) and Hidde Overdijk (45) fought hard, but it was again the spinners who did most of the damage, Jayden Rossouw taking three for 31 and Wes Barresi, Van der Merwe and Julien de Mey claiming two apiece as HCC were all out for 200.

The defeat saw the Lions slipped down to third place on net run rate, leapfrogged by defending champions Punjab-Ghausia by virtue of their thumping victory over Rotterdam neighbours VOC at the Hazelaarweg.

Punjab never looked in any trouble as they amassed 328 for four, Shoaib Minhas leading the way with 91 at better than a run a ball, with Musa Ahmad making 42 and Mohsin Riaz 41.

All three fell to Scott Janett, who took three for 62, but once they were gone the finishing touches were added by Muhammad Gondal (63 not out) and Sikander Zulfiqar (40 not out), who hammered 76 off the last nine overs against a wearied VOC attack.

Janett (54) then combined with his captain Tim de Kok (41) to take the Bloodhounds to 79 for one, but although Janett batted for much of the reply, the seventh to go with the score in 129, he received too little support, and the innings folded on 160.

Sajjad Kamal did much of the damage with three for 25, Minhas and Musa picking up two wickets apiece.

A solid 95 from Raynard van Tonder and a brutal 113 from Brett Hampton were the core of Excelsior ‘20’s 311 for eight against Voorburg at Thurlede, Hampton’s innings transforming what had until then been a relatively sober affair.

He came to the crease when  a brilliant piece of quick thinking by veteran bowler Usman Malik brought the end of a 111-run stand for the fourth wicket between Van Tonder and Stan van Troost (39), and when he lost his partner five runs later, Van Tonder dismissed in the 90s for the second time this season, Excelsior were tottering at 165 for five.

Opening his account with a boundary off the first ball he faced, Hampton needed only 28 balls to reach his half-century and a further 21 to go to three figures; in all he hit six fours and ten sixes, scoring 62 out of a 83-run stand with Niels Etman.

Voorburg mounted a serious challenge to Excelsior’s total, reaching 171 for one with Gavin Kaplan and Noah Croes at the wicket after Cedric de Lange had contributed 47 in an opening stand of 95 with Kaplan.

But then Croes (40) and Kaplan (76) departed in quick succession, and thereafter the home side’s bowlers gradually work their way through the rest of the order, sharing the wickets as Voorburg were eventually dismissed for 257.

The win took the Schiedammers back into eighth place, ahead of VOC on NRR, both now four points clear of Sparta 1888, who suffered a 143-run loss to VRA in the Amsterdamse Bos.

Juandre Scheepers was again among the wickets for the Spartans, removing internationals Vikram Singh and Teja Nidamanuru before returning to add the scalp of Johan Smal, who had anchored the innings in reaching 64.

At 155 for five VRA could have been in trouble, but they were rescued by their lower middle order, Patrick Gouge making 46 and Viraj Thakur 44, which Ibaad Zaidi hit his maiden Topklasse half-century, making 55 before becoming one of three victims for Max Hoornweg, who finished with three for 32.

Their efforts enabled VRA to reach 285, and it was soon evident that there would be no repeat of Sparta’s spirited chase against HBS last week.

Only Lukas Boorer (34) and Tim Ferguson (28) managed reasonably substantial contributions, but the feature of the innings, and probably of the match, was Vikram Singh’s maiden five-wicket haul, all five of his victims caught behind by Jack Cassidy.

Singh finished with five for 37, and Sparta were all out for 142; now four points behind Excelsior and VOC at the foot of the table, the Capelle club seem certain to be playing Hoofdklasse cricket next season.