Punjab Rotterdam’s Topklasse debut at the Zomercomplex on Saturday was, happily, firmly in the latter category.
Both sides had several opportunities to take control, but the resistance of their opponents, combined sometimes with their own misjudgements, served to keep the game in the balance, and it was only in the 99th of the scheduled 100 overs that a brilliant piece of fielding by Irfan Ul Haq secured the final wicket and gave the debutants a thrilling four-run victory.
Ul Haq had earlier been the first to go after Jeroen Brand won the toss for Quick and put Punjab in to bat; he became the first of four wickets for pace man Jean Bredenkamp, who bowled with pace and accuracy throughout the innings and was the pick of the Quick attack.
He and Henk-Jan Mol soon reduced Punjab to 29 for three, but then a fine stand of 89 between Soaib Minhas (46) and Ahsan Masood (48), compiled in 20 overs, restored Punjab’s fortunes and set them back on course for a decent total.
It was Thijs van Schelven who eventually removed Masood, caught at deep mid-off, and Bredenkamp returned to dismiss Minhas and Mohammad Cheema in quick succession, to leave the home side again in trouble at 132 for six.
Yasir Usman’s response was to go after the bowling, and he belted two four and three sixes in the space of 17 deliveries as he and Faizan Bajwa built another crucial partnership for Punjab, adding 54 for the seventh wicket.
But Bajwa was becalmed for long periods and his side were starting to run out of overs. Forced to lift the tempo, he could only loft Van Schelven as far as Geert Maarten Mol at deep midwicket.
Usman continued almost to the end, reaching a splendid half-century with a six off Henk-Jan Mol and bringing up the 200 at the same time, but three balls later he skied a Brand delivery to deep cover and the innings ended on 205.
Bredenkamp finished with four for 30, taking two catches into the bargain, and there were two wickets for Brand in the closing stages.
In the circumstances it seemed as if it might not be enough, and although Suleiman Tariq trapped Lesley Stokkers in front with the fifth ball of the innings, Bob van Gigch and Wesley Barresi set about establishing exactly that.
They put on 79 in less than 12 overs, punishing anything loose even harder than Punjab’s batsmen had done, and the game again seemed to be swinging Quick’s way.
Enter leg-spinner Minhas, and Barresi, having made a run-a-ball 43, cracked his second delivery hard and low to point where Masood took a good catch. In his next over Van Gigch, on 34, holed out to deep midwicket, and the match was back in the balance.
Minhas’ spell would prove decisive, as he removed Bredenkamp and later Rogier Rooda to finish with four for 27. In between, Yasir Ali had Henk-Jan Mol stumped by Mohsin Bajwa, and although Geert Maarten Mol was playing a determined hand at the other end, only a sustained partnership would bring Quick back into the game.
Daan Vierling gave him some support, seeing Minhas off before falling to a sharp catch by keeper Bajwa off Masood’s bowling, but it was left to skipper Brand, the last of the recognised batsmen, to steer the side towards their target.
The pair buckled to their task in exemplary fashion, picking up singles and a very occasional boundary. The target was down to single figures with a couple of overs left, but then Masood beat Mol’s bat, Bajwa whipped the bails off, and Punjab had the breakthrough they so desperately needed. Mol had made a fine 56 from 90 deliveries, an innings which deserved a different outcome.
Two balls later Brand’s patience snapped and he too fell, caught at long off from Yasir Ali’s bowling.
That left Van Schelven and Hoseinbaks to score six off the final over, but they could manage only a single before the latter, looking for a single that wasn’t there, was beaten by Ul Haq’s throw, and Punjab had completed what for long periods had seemed an improbable victory.