Na 5x mooi weer verregende de Toc afgelopen woensdag, wat ook traditie is, een keer verregenen. Dit geeft wel ruimte voor een tussenbericht.
Op dinsdag 9 juli werd de finalist van poule A bekend en daarbij moest wel het blockchain algoritme (voorheen Muisch coëfficiënt) van de net runrate uit de kast worden gehaald met verrassend resultaat.
Zami 1 won namelijk van (toernooi)favoriet Zami 3 en heeft zo het feestje van hun jongere broeders behoorlijk verstoord. Zelf schiet Zami 1 er geen plaats mee op, maar Concordia is op net run rate duidelijk eerste in de poule en speelt de finale op 26 juli. Zami 3 is veroordeeld tot het spelen om brons.

De laatste wedstrijden in poule B worden woensdag 17 juli ingehaald (Zami 2 vs Zamigo’s en CCG-VCC) en er valt nog genoeg om voor te strijden. VCC gaat na de verrassende overwinning vorige week op (toernooi)favoriet Zami 2 fier aan kop, maar treft de gevaarlijke outsider CCG. Zami 2 zal het steeds meer op stoom komende touring team Zamigo's met flink verschil moeten verslaan ... Stand poule B:
1. VCC 2-4 (+ 0,85)
2. Zami 2 2-2 (+ 0,575)
3. CCG 2-2 (+ 0,05357)
4. Zamigo's (- 1,61)

We zijn benieuwd naar het verslag van Zami 3, maar dit is wat onze correspondent van Fox schreef:
“Giant killers”
Zami 3 is a strong team with young, talented player known for their fitness and athletic abilities. A couple of good bowlers and a few players that can easily make a century as they have shown in previous games. The match started late due to the fact half of our opponent’s team was stuck in traffic. Notably we were all at the field on time, an indication that we took this match seriously and were eager for a win in this competition.
As Pranay noted we had a good batting side “on paper”, but in spite of that we got stuck at 122 for 5 after 20 overs. Their man Chiel as pace bowler and main wicket taker making life difficult. There was sensible batting though by Jart (who had the only boundary, and no run outs), Pranay, Sayyad and especially Vivek (getting caught at exactly the postion he thought he would be) and Faisal (who stayed not out). These two took it up a notch and kept the scoreboard rattling. Nearly all batsmen scored double figures, but top scorer was mister Extra with 25 runs.
Our modest total gave Zami 3 enough confidence to open with their lesser “batspersons”, one of them the lady that handsomely caught Vivek on backward deep midwicket, the other one HCC1 player Olivier Klaus. Their batsmen found the boundary more often than we did, even had one or two sixes, but it started to show that our field placement was excellent and more importantly that our fielding was as sharp as that of our much younger opponents had been. Vivek killing all balls on the off side and Pranay cutting off all boundaries and getting the ball back close to the stumps with every throw, on the other side JJ was as fast as lightning. In the middle of the game bowling by Sayyad, Pranay and Faisal had become so incredibly tight that the pressure started choking their batsmen and the run rate remained low.
At this point they must have regretted their self-overestimation as the shortage of overs became a factor. Wickets kept falling at even intervals, a couple of them beautifully bowled, a couple confidently caught by Jart behind the wicket.
Then came the last over and our total was well within their reach, with nine runs needed. Cool as a cucumber Paul took the ball for the first time in the match and bowled an incredible over under tremendous pressure. The terrace packed with spectators as the match on the second field had already ended. They watched in admiration as Zami 3 were kept from making the winning runs and managed only 120 runs, where a tie would have been sufficient to make it to the final.
It was a glorious victory, we had won with a great team effort and inspiring captaincy.