Hemelvaart saw the start of the season proper for the new look 2nds.
Some old faces, some new, presented the new captain with an embarrassment of riches. The count was 7 players that have played Hoofdklasse in recent years. So it was with high expectation that we took to the field against Quick Nijmegen. It was something that didn’t escape the notice of the visiting captain as he enviously eyed the star studded line-up that confronted him.

It’s all very well to have a great team on paper, to win the coin toss, and to look confident as you say “we’ll have a bat – good luck”, but it’s another thing to turn all those positives into runs.
Things started well, Doekhie hit 9 off the first over and people started to relax. Rehmat played his role to perfection, taking the brunt of what the opening bowlers could offer and making sure the shine was off the ball before he fell in the 16th over. At that point the free scoring Doeks (who already had his 50) was joined by Bas and the runs began to flow, quickly. A stand of 162 in a little over 20 overs left Quick already looking down the barrel. Bassie finally fell for 63, but Doeks wasn’t finished there, he was joined by Aman and finally by Rehan as he completed a mammoth 180 before finally succumbing to exhaustion with 10 overs left. Rehan decided to have some fun of his own with a quickfire 52 n.o. including one huge 6 that wasn’t even worth looking for. Tea was a happy affair for the skipper, first match in charge and 346 runs to play with.
To be honest, Quick looked like a team expecting the inevitable before their innings even started. They put up a fight for a while and for the first 6 overs were even up with the run rate, but once the first couple of wickets fell, the run rate got further and further away from them.
They continued to go along at what would have been, on any other day, a fair rate, but was here just batting practice. It was our spinners that finally ended the resistance of Quick, 3 for Rehan and 4 for Maninder, who seems to specialise in getting 2 in 2 balls. Although when he bowls his first ball on Sunday (for the slightly extended hat-trick), it would be wise to think about not bowling another no-ball!
Despite the wickets and 50’s on show, the day belonged to one of the old hands, Doekhies 180 will live long in the memories of the players and also the many happy spectators who braved the cold, damp day, thanks for that, it was great to see you all there.