Excelsior survived another scare after being restricted to 159-9 by Hermes to extend their unbeaten streak in the Topklasse to 13 matches, having not dropped a game since their last visit to Harga in 2016. The win means they maintain a four point lead at the top of the table, with nearest rivals HBS seeing off VOC to keep in the chase.

Hermes meanwhile have yet to record a win this season, now six points adrift of the pack after HCC held on for a narrow win over ACC at het Loopveld. Defeat at home to Quick means Dosti are the fourth team on six points, whilst Quick preserved their slim hopes of catching Excelsior, six points behind the defending champions and level with VRA, who bested Punjab away at het Zomercomplex.

Excelsior eventually won through comfortably despite the vulnerability of their batting again being exposed. In the absence of Roel Verhagen - out with a broken toe - they remain dependent on Tim Etman or Lorenzo Ingram to drive the scoring. They both went cheaply on Saturday, falling victim to Reinart de Klek and Davy Verweij respectively, who's figures of 4-18 and 2-17 largely accounted for Excelsior's below-par total of 159-9. That it was not lower still was primarily down to a dogged 105-ball 50 from James Hilditch.

Hermes were unable to take advantage however. After losing de Klerk early Stef Myburgh and Dan ter Braak put on a half-century partnership for the 2nd wicket but when Sohail Bhatti bowled Myburgh for 26 the momentum fell away. No other batsman made double figures as ter Braak saw wickets tumble at the other end. His 109-ball 63 accounted for half of the eventual total as the hosts collapsed to 126 all out, Bhatti the pick of the bowlers with 4-12.

HBS' win over VOC at Craeyenhout ensured Excelsior could not extend their lead however, a blitzkrieg 133 from 86 balls from Jaron Morgan providing the bulk of an imposing 312 total, and though a century partnership between Max O'Dowd and Sebastiaan van Lent set a platform the visitors collapsed on the final charge. Morgan and Wessel Coster put on 143 for the 3rd wicket to take the crows past 200, and Coster's dismissal - trapped LBW by O'Dowd for 54, did little to arrest the momentum. Together with Navjit Singh Morgan added another 65 before finally holing out off Ahsan Malik, and some brisk hitting from Ferdi Vink helped Singh get them past the 300 mark.

Whilst O'Dowd and van Lent were together for the 4th wicket VOC looked in the game, but after Morgan found the breakthrough, trapping van Lent LBW for a career best 60 with the visitors still less than half-way to the total, VOC never really recovered. Fink and Farshad Khan made short work of the middle order, and a 45 run stand for the last wicket between Tom Cramb and Tjerk Schoonheim did little but delay the inevitable.

Meanwhile at het Zomercomplex five wickets and and an unbeaten 77 for Peter Borren saw VRA to a comfortable win over Punjab. Openers Ali and Chaudhary had put on a solid 78 run opening stand for the hosts after electing to bat first, but young Haseeb Gul made good on his belated arrival by taking three wickets in succession to reduce them to 102-3. An 86 run stand for the 5th between Usman and Shahzad saw Punjab stage something of a recovery, but Borren brought himself on to run through the tail, seeing them all out for a below par 229 in exactly 50 overs.

An uncharacteristically circumspect 35 from 71 from Mitch Lees, with support from Vikram Singh and Ben Cooper saw VRA to 86-3 by the half-way stage, but Borren and Eric Swarczynski put any run rate worries to bed, sweeping and reverse sweeping with abandon. The loss of Szwarczynski with the score on 147 did little to discourage Borren, and with Emile van den Burg scoring freely at the other end the VRA skipper saw his side home with 27 balls to spare.

Back in Amsterdam Jonathan Vandiar continued his impressive run of form for HCC at het Loopveld, his 111 ball 117 providing the majority of the visitors total of 215 runs. Only Tonny Staal and Mark Jonkman gave him much support however, and Asad Zulfiqar's four wickets at the death kept the target manageable and hosts ACC will have been reasonably confident at the break.

Despite contributions from all of the ACC top order, however, they were to fall some eight runs short. After Mark Jonkman dismissed openers Asad and Rehmat, an 84-run partnership between Sikander and Saqib Zulfiqar should have put ACC in the driver's seat at 135-2, but by the time Hidde Overdijk had Sikander caught by Jonkman, the required rate had been allowed to creep up. Zakir Kathrada joined Saqib at the crease and but a winning position had been allowed to drift, and the pressure of the required rate eventually did for both, Saqib caught by Jonkman of Ali Qasim and Kathrada run out trying to reclaim the strike.

The 37 runs remaining proved beyond the tail. Jonkman had Malik caught behind, Steven de Bruin fell victim to another run out and Rasool chipped one back to Jonkman who, quite remarkably, had been involved in one way or another with every wicket to fall as ACC fell 7 runs short.

Across the Amstel at Drieburg Dosti likewise couldn't capitalise on a good showing in the field, falling 17 runs short after bowling Quick Haag out for 163. A 71-run stand for the 2nd wicket between Wesley Barresi and Henk Mol had put Quick in a decent position, but after Barresi fell to Corne Dry for 31 Quick couldn't find any momentum. Regular wickets and a difficult surface kept the visitors pegged back, and after Mol fell to a well held return catch from Kohli the tail rapidly subsided, Wahid Masood taking three wickets to finish off the innings.

Dosti's chase got off to a poor start with Vinoo Tewarie fell in the second over, and despite the rest of the top order getting starts none managed to stick around for long, Rahil Ahmed's 27 from 58 balls the top score for the hosts as they were dismissed for 147 - Quick skipper Jeroen Brand pick of the bowlers with a return of 4-27.