Quick Haag came back from the dead in Amstelveen on Saturday to claim the national women’s championship for the fourth time as they beat title-holders VRA Amsterdam by just seven runs.

It was an outcome which had seemed improbable five overs before the end, with VRA needing just 25 runs to reach their target of 225, with seven wickets in hand and Carolien Salomons and Martje Köster apparently in complete command.

But then Salomons was out after having made a fine 106, and when Köster followed for 68 the remaining batsmen were unable to finish the job, only 17 runs coming from those last five overs for the loss of four wickets.

Earlier, Quick had recovered from an indifferent start, with key batsmen Esther Lanser and Helmien Rambaldo both falling by the time the total was 45. They were brought back into the game by a third-wicket stand of 118 between Alarda Mol (42) and Caroline Rambaldo, the latter continuing almost to the end and enabling her side to reach a challenging 224 for six from their 45 overs. Mol was eventually run out for a 152-ball 69.

VRA, too, lost early wickets when they replied, but then came the stand between Salomons – who had made 97 in the previous, rained-off final match on 29 August – and Köster, who put on 157 for the fourth wicket and took their side to within sight of victory.

Quick, however, knew that once that partnership was broken they would be back in the game, and it was Alarda Mol who eventually removed Salomons when she had made 106 from just 94 deliveries. With Mol and Helmien Rambaldo collecting two wickets apiece they held their nerve, denying VRA both their second successive championship and what would have been the first men’s-women’s championship double since Kampong Utrecht did it in 1992.