The battle for semi-final places in the Topklasse T20 Cup produced a thrilling climax on Saturday, as Punjab-Ghausia fell just three runs short of Hermes-DVS’s 160 for five, and saw themselves edged out of the top four by the narrowest of net run rate margins.

Starting the final round on top of the table but with a distinct NRR disadvantage compared with their closest rivals, Punjab needed a victory to make absolutely sure of a spot in Sunday’s semi-finals.

But after winning the toss and putting Hermes in, Sikander Zulfiqar saw the Schiedammers accumulate a challenging total, thanks to opener Daniel Doyle-Calle’s 30-ball 40 and a stand of 76 for the fourth wicket between Olivier Elenbaas, who made 37 from 29 deliveries, and Aryan Dutt, whose 26-ball 50 ensured that Punjab would have a significant chase on their hands.

Tehzeeb Haider (two for 16) and Muhammad Gondal (two for 22) went for under five an over, but the rest of Punjab’s bowling was a good deal more expensive.

Musa Ahmad and Shoaib Minhas gave their side’s reply a flowing start, and at 127 for three Punjab were favourably placed, needing 34 off the last five overs with seven wickets in hand.

But then Sebastiaan Braat trapped Burhan Niaz in front, and as wickets fell the asking rate began to climb; Braat added Gandal and Tasir Usman to his tally with successive deliveries, finishing with four for 46, and when Dutt started the final over 11 were still required.

Despite the assistance of four byes Fawad Shinwari and Gondal could only manage three singles, and Hermes were home by three runs.

To make matters worse for Punjab VRA had dismissed Sparta 1888 for 62 in the Amsterdamse Bos, their six-wicket victory in 13.4 overs further improving the Amsterdammers’ NRR, and with HCC and Voorburg recording comfortable victories to leapfrog their rivals, Punjab were squeezed into fifth place.

The NRR margin between third and fifth was just 0.147 in the end, but it was enough to see Punjab eliminated.

Relegated from the 50-over Topklasse, Sparta had started their T20 campaign promisingly enough, but their recent results had been disappointing, and now they collapsed to 22 for five inside the powerplay.

Then young seamer Shayan Moodley claimed three wickets in his opening over, a triple-wicket maiden, and the innings ended on 62.

Juandre Scheepers and Ahsan Malik picked up two wickets apiece for Sparta when VRA replied, but the outcome was foregone, and Jack Cassidy and Imaan Zaidi knocked off the remaining runs quickly enough to see their side into third place on the table, just ahead of Hermes.

HCC finished the round robin phase in style, posting 166 for seven against Excelsior ‘20 at De Diepput and then bowling their opponents out for 75.

Both sides were without key overseas players, Josh Brown (HCC) and Raynard van Tonder (Excelsior) having departed, but with Mark Wolfe, promoted to four, making a 31-ball 36 and Tonny Staal hitting a punishing 39 from 25 deliveries with three fours and two sixes, Sam Rahaley’s four for 31 wasn’t enough to keep the home side’s scoring rate down.

Rahaley then did his best to keep Excelsior in the game with 37 from 33 deliveries, but Daniel Crowley took four for 16 and Clayton Floyd three for 17, and with Nihal Reddy the only other batter to register double figures the Schiedammers ended their season on a disappointing note.

Voorburg were similarly dominant against HBS Craeyenhout at Westvliet, making 168 for five, although the Crows put up a somewhat better display with the bat, reaching 131 before they were all out.

Cedric de Lange and Waseem Mohsen gave the home side a solid start with an opening stand of 75, De Lange going on to 59 from 40 deliveries, and then Noah Croes managed the closing overs with a 24-ball 35 not out.

Mees van Vliet picked up three quick wickets when HBS replied, and at 28 for five it seemed that the Crows might be another side to be bowled out very cheaply.

They were partially rescued by their lower order, however, with Wes Barresi, coming in at nine, top-scoring with 35 from 19 deliveries and Kyle Klein and Joris van Oosterom contributing twenties; Van Vliet finished with three for 21.

At Sportpark Eindenhout, Rood en Wit finished their tough campaign in the Topklasse T20 on a comparative high, not only beating VOC by 45 runs but leapfrogging HBS to avoid the wooden spoon.

Alexander de Graaff’s 32 and 31 from Jordan Woolf enabled to Haarlemmers to reach a respectable 128 for seven, Roman Harhangi claiming three for 18 for VOC, and then Saber Zakhil (three for 7 from three overs), Manzoor Tarake, Ismatullah Nasery and Ben Thornton ran through the Bloodhounds’ batting, bowling them out for 81.

VOC, again finishing eighth on the table, will now face a promotion/relegation play-off against the Hoofdklasse winners, where Kampong go into the semi-finals with an unbeaten record.

Sunday’s semi-finals in the Topklasse will pit HCC against Hermes-DVS at De Diepput, while Voorburg will take on VRA at Westvliet.