On a day that started with rain and yet miraculously did not see a single over lost to the weather, the absence of surprises was compensated for by two close finishes and two remarkable bowling performances.

Individual credit first: Farshad Khan’s seven for 19 for HBS to destroy Hermes-DVS at Craeyenhout was the second best individual analysis since the introduction of the Topklasse and bettered only by Steve Smidt’s eight for 14 against the same opponents in 2015.

But even he was surpassed by Punjab captain Suleiman Tariq, who took four wickets in four balls to polish off the Excelsior tail at Thurlede. This extraordinary feat left many asking whether it was the first time at had been achieved in the Dutch competition; given the dominance of bowlers for the first century of its existence and the remarkable analyses they often produced, this seems unlikely, but it is almost certainly the only case since the introduction of limited-overs cricket.

Tariq’s effort, giving him figures of four for 26, completed his side’s dismissal of the leaders for a comparatively modest 189, Haider Khan also contributing with three for 28 and removing Excelsior’s top-scorer Roel Verhagen for 64.

Verhagen and Tim Etman, indeed, had given their side a great start with an opening stand of 83, and the rest of the match provided an answer to the question of what would happen if, as in this case, overseas players Lorenzo Ingram and James Hilditch contributed only a handful of runs between them.

The answer, as it turned out, was that they would come out fighting, and with skipper Tom Heggelman leading from the front with two for 14 in a seven-over spell, Sohail Bhatti taking three for 23, and Hilditch and Adam Woutersen picking up two apiece, Punjab – admittedly without last week’s centurion Shoaib Minhas – were bundled out for 124.

Farshad Khan, on the other hand, was on the winning side, since his demolition of a Hermes batting line-up in which after another all too brief cameo from Stephan Myburgh (25 from 19 balls) only Nick Statham offered any serious resistance, ensured that the Schiedam side were dismissed for just 109.

HBS needed only 16 and a half overs to knock off the runs, losing four wickets in the process, with Corey Rutgers again the mainstay of the batting with an unbeaten 41.

This HBS win maintained the four-point gap between them and Excelsior, and the same applies to VRA Amsterdam, who cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Dosti United at Sportpark Drieburg.

After winning the toss and electing to bat Dosti could only muster 171, and it might have been a lot less had it not been for some woeful VRA fielding and a spirited last-wicket stand of 34 between Mahesh Hans and Waheed Masood.

The real highlight of the Dosti innings, however, was the batting of Taruwar Kohli, whose chanceless 57 was a model of its kind, and ended only when, needing to accelerate the scoring as the wickets fell around him, he was brilliantly caught on the midwicket boundary by Quirijn Gunning.

Gunning and his new-ball partner Fred Klaassen also bowled extremely well, but the main wicket-taker was Pragam Rathore, who maintained good control and thoroughly deserved his four for 32.

Dosti needed early wickets, but the aggression of Mitch Lees and the composure of 14-year-old Vikram Singh denied them that breakthrough, and after they departed, for 40 and 34 respectively, Ben Cooper anchored the rest of the innings before launching a savage attack on Sherry Butt which ensured the win with more than 18 overs to spare and gave him a 51-ball, unbeaten 54.

Those results were all clear-cut, but the other two matches went into the final overs.

Without the Zulfiqar triplets and their elder brother Rehmat, all of whom had an important family commitment, ACC depended largely on overseas player Zakir Kathrada, whose 91 enabled them to reach a respectable total of 192 for eight against VOC Rotterdam.

This would, however, take some defending, and that burden fell on the experienced shoulders of Usman Malik, whose nine overs yielded just 28 runs and two wickets, and Ahmed Zulfiqar, who bowled ten overs for just 25.

With Anis Raza also bowling well, the third-wicket stand of 92 between Caleb Jewell (54) and Max O’Dowd used up many of the available overs, and it took a crucial 26 from Ahsan Malik Jamil at almost a run a ball, and a major acceleration from O’Dowd to see VOC home by five wickets with just eight balls to spare.

O’Dowd finished on 81 not out, made from 118 deliveries with five fours and a six.

The climax was even more exciting at De Diepput, where Quick Haag held on to beat HCC by 8 runs.

Solid contributions by the Quick top order laid the foundation of their total of 212, Wesley Barresi making 42, Henk-Jan Mol 37, Jean Bredenkamp 53 and Geert Maarten Mol 39; Mark Jonkman was the most successful of the HCC bowlers with three for 21.

Tonny Staal (68) and Jonathan Vandiar (51) again gave their side an excellent start, but once both had been removed by Lesley Stokkers the HCC reply faltered, and when Hidde Overdijk was seventh out for a patient 26 sixteen were still needed.

With Ali Ahmed Qasim unable to bat due to an injury sustained early in the Quick innings and with young spinner Asief Hoseinbaks admirably holding his nerve to claim the last two wickets, HCC were dismissed for 204, Hoseinbaks finishing with four for 35.