Lashings come unstuck against Ventnor

 

In one of the great David and Goliath events of the year, the Lashings World XI came seriously unstuck on Sunday as Ventnor toppled the "Harlem Globetrotters" of cricket in a low-scoring thriller at the Steephill ground on the Isle of Wight.

Having elected to bat on a decidedly bowler-friendly pitch, Lashings immediately found the going tough against Charlie Freeston who condeded just 8 runs and took 2 wickets from his five overs, but it was the introduction of overseas player Ryan Shutte that really caused Lashings to lose their way. With Tom Friend also keeping things tight at the other end Lashings lost 4 wickets in the space of 8 balls with the score remaining on 61. In the end it took an unbeaten 38 from Henry Olonga to carry Lashings into three figures. Shutte finished with figures of 3 for 16 and Friend 3 for 26.

The eventual score of 121 all out was an all time low for Lashings, but was still a total that they hoped to defend in the 35 over match. Ventnor did suffer an early setback but again it was Shutte who came to the rescue. Born in South Africa but raised in New Zealand, Shutte took his time against a bowling attack that included Tino Best, Nantie Hayward and Chris Cairns, and remained calm while wickets fell at the other end. He was given a life as Chris Cairns dropped a skier while coming down the hill at fine leg, but other than that his 71-ball 65 was chanceless and contained 10 fours. Eventually he found someone to stay with him in the form of Danny Briggs, and the two took Ventnor over the finish line with an unbeaten partnership of 58 for the sixth wicket. Hayward and Cairns took a couple of wickets each but it wasn't enough for Lashings, who remained in good spirits throughout. Shutte was duly elected man of the match for his all-round performance.

Lashings Chairman David Folb said: "It's just one of those things that happens once in a while, they [Ventnor] gave an excellent team performance in the field to bowl Lashings out for their lowest ever score, then that innings [of 65 from Ryan Shutte] was one of the best I've ever seen against a team of the calibre of the Lashings World XI... Lashings were undoubtedly beaten by the better team on the day."

There are currently no plans for a rematch, and there are no other plans to return to the Isle of Wight at the moment, but keep checking http://www.lashings.com/ for news of fixtures for 2008.

For a scorecard of this match, please click HERE

 

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