Mudassar Bukhari neemt zaterdag 16 september tijdens een speciale middag/avond op Sportpark Bermweg afscheid als cricketer. Tal van oud-spelers waarmee Bukhi tijdens zijn carrière samenspeelde, maken hun opwachting in zijn afscheidswedstrijd.

Mudassar Bukhari maakte onlangs bekend dat hij na dit seizoen een punt zet achter zijn imposante cricketcarrière. De 39-jarige bowling-allrounder speelde tussen 2007 en 2016 189 officiële duels als prof waaronder 4 WK eindtoernooien.

De afgelopen 6 seizoenen behaalde hij met Sparta Cricket onder meer een kampioenschap en promotie naar het hoogste niveau, finale T20 cup en historische 4de en 3de eindklasseringen in de Topklasse.

De 15/15 overs wedstrijd start om 16:00 uur en word gevolgd door een diner en presentatie.

Foto: Will Clark probeert een run-out v HCC. ©Sander Tholen.

Het is Sparta Cricket niet gelukt om de finale van de Topklasse cricket te bereiken. De Capellenaren gingen op eigen veld met 4 wickets onderuit tegen titelverdediger HCC. Eerst aan bat werden slechts 114 runs gescoord door de Spartanen die nog wel terugkwamen van 32 voor 6 wickets. De bezoekers passeerde dit totaal in de 31ste over maar niet voor er 6 wickets waren gevallen.

Sparta Cricket heeft de historische derde plaats in de reguliere competitie geen goed vervolg kunnen geven in de de Play-Off finales. Een tegenvallende prestatie met het bat kon in de tweede inning door bowlers niet meer worden opgelost.

Sparta trad voor het eerst dit seizoen aan zonder topscorer Garnett Tarr (978 runs in 2023) die eerder werd teruggeroepen door zijn profclub in Zuid-Afrika en hij werd zeker gemist op nummer 3. Niet in de laatste plaats omdat hij al twee century’s had gescoord tegen deze tegenstander dit seizoen. Met een iets aangepaste order faalde de Capellenaren compleet en leek de wedstrijd al gespeeld op 32 runs voor 6 wickets.

Dat er nog tot laat in de middag werd gespeeld was te danken aan de laatste vier batters van Sparta die er 82 runs met elkaar bij sprokkelden. Naar voorbeeld van Captain Martijn Snoep, die meer dan 100 ballen speelde voor zijn 16 runs, streden de Red Caps voor een laatste kans dit seizoen. Nummers 8 en 10 Faizan Bashir en Sawan Sardha bleven staan, wisten ook de boundary te vinden en topscoorden met 24- en 21 runs. De HCC bowlers hadden allen zonder uitzondering goede cijfers maar Sint Maartenaar Daniel Doram was uitstekend met slechts 4 runs tegen in 10 overs. Daniel Crowley nam 4 wickets.

Ondanks de geleverde arbeid mag 114 runs totaal eigenlijk geen wedstrijd meer worden maar ook met bal in hand gaven de Capellenaren zich niet zomaar gewonnen. Opnieuw was het Martijn Snoep die het voortouw nam en op de eerste bal van de derde over toesloeg; 1 run voor 1 wicket. De Hagenaars leken met een 61 runs samenwerking van Tonny Staal en Rata Alphonse definitief het licht uit te doen in deze wedstrijd waren het niet dat spinners Sawan Sardha en Joost Kroesen 4 wickets namen. Op 100 runs viel ook het 6de HCC wicket nog maar er waren te weinig runs om te verdedigen. HCC terechte winnaar en uiteindelijk finalist volgende week op en tegen VCC.

Photo: Will Clark scored 75 runs v ACC.©Sander Tholen.

TKcricket.com: …as did Sparta by virtue of their three-wicket win against ACC at the Bermweg.

ACC were again unable to take full advantage of a good start, which saw them reach 103 for two thanks to 36 from Rahil Ahmed and 26 from hius fellow-opener Shreyas Potdar.

But thereafter only Heino Kuhn was able to gain the upper hand against Sparta’s persistent attack, and no-one was able to stay with him for long; he was the ninth man out for exactly 50, and the innings ended on 195.

The Amsterdammers fought hard in the field, reducing Sparta to 73 for four at one stage, but a fifth-wicket partnership of 91 between Will Clark (75) and Joost Kroesen (45) turned the game around, and Sandeep Sardha saw them to victory with two balls to spare.

At Bermweg leaders Voorburg flirted with defeat by Sparta, but were seen home by a dogged ninth-wicket stand of 42 between Philippe Boissevain and Mees van Vliet after Joost-Martijn Snoep and Joost Kroesen appeared to have put the Spartans into a winning position.

They were defending a relatively modest 162, which was dominated by Garnett Tarr’s 93; he received too little support, however, and with Shariz Ahmad taking five for 32, his fourth five-wicket haul of the campaign, and bringing his season’s tally to 43 at an average of 11, Voorburg should have had a relatively easy chase.

But Snoep struck three times to reduce them to 47 for three, and when brothers Musa and Shariz Ahmad appeared to swung the game their side’s way Kroesen chimed in, removing first Musa for 53 and then Shariz for 42.

At 121 for eight Sparta were now on top, but Boissevain and Van Vliet, with plenty of overs in hand, were content to pick off the runs in ones and twos, their partnership not including a single boundary but moving swiftly enough to reach their target with seven and a half overs to spare.

Snoep finished with three for 38 and Kroesen with the day’s most popular figures, three for 29.

Despite this defeat Sparta stayed ahead of HCC on NRR, and will therefore enjoy home advantage in next Saturday’s second semi-final.

Foto: Garnett Tarr celebrates after reaching his third century of the season.©Patrick Gorlee.

TKcricket.com: The most exciting match of the two rounds was Sparta 1888’s tie with HCC at De Diepput on Saturday.

Garnett Tarr made 143 not out in the Spartans’ 273 for six, and Jonathan Vandiar responded with 117 at almost a run a ball for the Lions.

Teun Kloppenburg gave him good support with 64, but with three overs remaining 34 were still required with just two wickets in hand; Daniel Doram hit three sixes off the penultimate over, but in the last Mudassar Bukhari dismissed first Hidde Overdijk and then, with the scores level, Doram, and the points were shared.

Bukhari finished with three for 43 and Joost-Martijn Snoep three for 32.

VOC salvaged something from their weekend with a 94-run win against Sparta, Roman Harhangi producing career-best figures of six for 17 as Sparta were all out for 129 in reply to VOC’s total of 223 in a match reduced to 42 overs; Lane Berry made 55 for the Bloodhounds, while Snoep was again among the wickets with four for 43.

Foto: Khalid ahmadi hits a six.©Sander Tholen.

tkcricket.com: Improving conditions in the afternoon meant that Sparta were able to take on VRA, who missed an opportunity to go clear at the top of the table when they lost a see-sawing encounter by two wickets off the final ball of the match.

The leaders had been put on the back foot early by a vintage spell from Mudassar Bukhari, who displayed all his guile in an opening spell of three for 21, and they were only able to recover from 53 for six to 122 all out thanks to valuable contributions from Udit Nashier (29) and Aaditt Jain (17); Prithvi Balwantsingh kept up the pressure for Sparta with three for 29.

Bukhari, Sam Ferguson, Garnett Tarr and Will Clark all got a start at the top of Sparta’s order and Khalid Ahmadi made 18 from just eight deliveries, but VRA kept taking wickets, and Eduard Visser’s final over began with 11 still needed and seven wickets down.

Balwantsingh fell to the first ball, but Tom Hoornweg struck the second to the boundary, and a string of singles left four required off the last and skipper Joost-Martijn Snoep on strike.

His lofted drive to long off eluded the fielder, and Sparta had secured the two points they needed to put an end to any fears that they might become entangled in the relegation tussle.

The KNCB has released the matchdays for the Championship Play-Off in the Topklasse 50 overs.

Championship/Kampioenschap Play-Off

16-7 – Punjab Rotterdam v Sparta, 11 uur.

22-7 – HCC v Sparta, 11 uur.

23-7 – VOC v Sparta, 11 uur.

6-8 – Sparta v ACC, 11 uur.

13-8 – Sparta v VCC, 11 uur.

Foto: Sam Ferguson ©Sander Tholen.

tkcricket.com: Salland’s miserable run continued, as they lost first to Sparta 1888 by six wickets.

Their day began promisingly enough, with Talha Ahmed Khan and Venkat Ganesan, the latter back from German duties, putting on 45 for the first wicket, and then Ganesan and Finn Raxworthy took them to 82 for two.

Once Ganesan had gone for 40, however, Raxworthy soon following for 30, the innings fell apart, the last seven wickets falling for just 19 runs; Joost Kroesen collected three for 17 and Faizan Bashir and Prithvi Balwantsingh picked up two apiece as Salland were all out for 118.

The home side’s bowlers fought hard all the way when Sparta replied, but Sam Ferguson’s 51 was the mainstay of the innings, and when he was finally dismissed by Victor Lubbers, only eight were needed for victory, Khalid Ahmadi hitting the winning six with an over to spare.

Foto: Garnett Tarr celebrates his 5yh century for the club ©Sander Tholen.

Defending champions HCC cemented their place in the championship pool on Saturday with a thrilling last-over victory over Sparta 1888 at Sportpark Bermweg, but even more satisfying for the Hagenaars’ support was the fact that it was based upon a maiden Topklasse century for captain Boris Gorlee.

Gorlee’s Topklasse form, like that of his predecessor Tonny Staal, had so far been disappointing this season, but the way in which he went about chasing down Sparta’s challenging total of 275 for eight showed great temperament, and even when his side were looking for ten an over he did not panic, relying on an acceleration in tandem with Hidde Overdijk in the final overs to reach the target with just one delivery to spare.

On a day when the batters were mostly in command, Sparta’s innings had been built around Garnett Tarr’s knock of 137, made from 138 balls with 18 fours and three sixes, helped by smaller but important contributions from Sam Ferguson, Will Clark and Mudassar Bukhari, while Overdijk (four for 47) and Daniel Doram (three for 45) were the most successful of HCC’s bowlers.

Staal again went early when HCC replied, but Ratha Alphonse (53) and Gorlee put on 135 for the second wicket, and although they were well behind the required rate for most of the innings, with wickets in hand and Gorlee standing firm they remained just about in contention until, having reached three figures for the first time, the skipper was able to go onto the attack.

He finished with an unbeaten 134, made from 151 deliveries with 14 fours and a six, while Overdijk’s 24 not out came from just nine deliveries; Malik took three for 65 for Sparta. (tkcricket.com)

Foto: Joost Kroesen ©Sander Tholen.

tkcricket.com: Chasing VRA’s 228 for eight at the Bermweg, leaders Sparta 1888 appeared to be down and out when Ashir Abid, Tyler van Luin and Eduard Visser had reduced them to 64 for six, but Joost Kroesen had other ideas.

Supported first by Ahsan Malik in a seventh-wicket stand of 76 and then by a hard-hitting cameo from Khalid Ahmadi, who belted four sixes in his 21-ball 36, Kroesen steadily turned the game around, and when Ahmadi fell to Visser only 31 runs were needed from from 39 deliveries.

Now it was captain Joost-Martijn Snoep’s job to help Kroesen see the side home, and so effectively did they tackle their task that Sparta completed their unlikely two-wicket victory with an over to spare.

Kroesen finished on 88 not out, the highest of his career, made from 120 balls with six fours and two sixes, ensuring that Sparta remained on top of the table with three Phase 1 matches remaining.

Earlier, Aryan Dutt’s 40-ball 55 on his return from injury had injected some much-needed urgency to a VRA innings which had never quite taken off against a steady Sparta attack, most of the top order getting a start but not really capitalising; Malik and Mudassar Bukhari had bowled effectively if without success with the new ball, and it was Ahmadi who did much of the damage, taking five for 47.

Foto: Garnett Tarr on the attack during his half-century v VOC last Saturday.©Faye Dommershuijsen.

Sparta heeft met een overtuigende 6 wickets winst op regiogenoot VOC de koppositie in de Topklasse cricket gepakt. De bezoekers uit Rotterdam Hillegersberg werden voor slechts 117 runs all-out aan de kant gezet. Ahsan Malik was met 5 wickets (zijn tweede voor Sparta) de grote uitblinker aan Capelse zijde waar ook spinner Joost Kroesen 2 wickets liet optekenen. VOC-keeper Frans Fourie was met 26 runs de topscoorder voor de Bloedhonden.

De Capellenaren passeerden het totaal voor 4 wickets binnen 19 overs. Garnett Tarr had met zijn tweede 50+ score van het seizoen (4×4 en 4×6) de grootste bijdrage gevolgd door Will Clark met 26 not out. Niet alleen de runs maar ook het tempo waarin zij werden gescoord heeft het rungemiddelde (nrr) van de ploeg goed gedaan. Zo goed dat Spartanen na 5 speelrondes, op nrr, voor het eerst sinds seizoen 2018 weer eens de eerste plaats bezetten in de Topklasse!

Donderdag komt VRA naar de Bermweg voor de Hemelvaartsdagronde, aanvang 11 uur, ook live op Match Centre.

Sparta has taken top spot in the Topklasse after convincingly beating local rivals VOC by 6 wickets. The visitors from Rotterdam Hillegersberg managed only 117 runs all-out after being put in to bat. Sparta’s Ashan Malik’s second five-for for the club let the way with also spinner Joost Kroesen taking 2 wickets. VOC wicketkeeper Frans Fourie’s 26 runs where the topscore for the Bloudhound’s.

In reply the Capelle side passed the target within 19 overs. Garnett Tarr’s second half-century of the season (4×4 and 4×6) the biggest of the contributions followed by a well hit 26 not out from Will Clark. Not just the runs but also the tempo they were scored at boosted the home side’s net run rate that now sits on top of the table, equal on points with Voorburg, for the first time since 2018!

Thursday VRA Amsterdam will travel to Capelle for the Ascension Day game, start 11h CET, also live on Match Centre.