It was a match which in Excelsior’s view should not have been played, but they made their point in the most eloquent way possible at Thurlede on Saturday: marching to a comfortable six-wicket victory over VRA Amsterdam and extending their unbeaten run to fourteen games.

Without player-coach Ed Cowan and wicketkeeper-batsman Marcel Schewe, who has been suspended for two matches after an incident in the match against Quick Haag on 16 May, the Topklasse leaders quickly took the initiative after VRA skipper Peter Borren won the toss and elected to bat, and once the game got under way – an hour late because of a series of showers, none of which impeded Excelsior's hastily-rearranged youth tournament – they soon had their opponents on 32 for three.

Usman Malik bowled Eric Szwarczynski in the first over and then Tim Muir in his third, and Second XI player-coach David Sandmann, standing in for Cowan, claimed the valuable wicket of Tom Cooper with his first delivery in the Topklasse.

On a pitch which greatly favoured the bowlers all day, Wesley Barresi and Borren now set about restoring the VRA innings, and they added 95 precious runs for the fourth wicket in 22 overs. Barresi, batting with much greater resolution than in the past, played his finest innings for VRA, and after he lost his partner, out sweeping after reaching a well-made 54, he marshalled the rest of the batting and saw his side through to 203 for eight.

Spinner Adam Woutersen picked up four for 33 for Excelsior, but he was unable to remove Barresi, who had made 94 by the conclusion of the innings and just missed out on what would have been his second century in the top flight.

Excelsior began cautiously in reply against steady bowling from Sohail Bhatti and Adeel Raja, and the total had reached 27 before Borren extracted some extra life from the pitch and had Rifaiz Bakas caught behind by Barresi.

Then two overs later Tom Heggelman, who had looked comfortable enough, was left stranded when Luuk van Troost, dropped at mid-on, attempted a rash single.

The match hung in the balance, but if Van Troost was disconcerted by that incident he certainly did not show it, and he and Daan van Bunge steadily took the game away from VRA with a vital stand of 106.

Van Troost, who was content to play a supporting role, made 31 before, immediately after a break for rain, he slashed at a Vinoo Tewarie delivery and was caught behind. Van Bunge continued to savage anything loose, and he had made a splendid 75 when he, too, was run out, and in the most unfortunate manner imaginable: off bowler Tewarie’s hand as he intercepted a full-blooded straight drive from Malik and tipped it onto the stumps as Van Bunge was backing up.

That left Excelsior needing 49 off more than fifteen overs, and Malik and Martijn van Gelderen ensured that there were no further mishaps, seeing them through to victory with more than six overs in hand.