DE SILVA ROLLS BACK THE YEARS TO ENTERTAIN A RECORD CROWD
The incessant rain of the previous day gave way to sunshine as Ventnor welcomed a record crowd of more than 1,300 to their unique, atmospheric, Steephill ground for the visit of the Lashings World XI on Sunday.
Marquee Compere Graham Benson began the day by welcoming Corporate Hospitality guests and match Sponsor HTP.
The Marquee entertainment, crowned by the marvellous singing voice of Henry Olonga, was the precursor to an afternoon of great entertainment on the pitch as the Lashings World XI batted first, looking to avenge last year’s shock defeat.
Spectators filling the four sides of the Steephill bowl were treated to a masterpiece of an innings of 121 as Aravinda de Silva took centre stage.
Taking advantage of a pacy, bouncy pitch, courtesy of groundsman Nigel Cox, the legendary Sri Lankan struck 13 fours and 2 sixes in his 85 ball knock, and with Zimbabwean Brendan Taylor hitting 67 and fellow Sri Lankan Marvan Atapattu 50no the visitors amassed 255-4 from their 35 overs.
Ventnor, attempting to create history by becoming the first club ever to defeat Lashings in consecutive seasons, suffered an early blow when Tom Friend departed for 12. Ian Hilsum (18) and Ben Woodhouse (32), bearing the brunt of some aggressive and genuinely quick bowling from Pakistan’s Mohammed Akram and particularly New Zealander Ian Butler, took the score to 60 before both departed in quick succession.
Neil Westhorpe (27) took the total past three three figures, but with Indian Test spinner Nilesh Kulkarni extracting turn, Ventnor fell further behind the required run rate. Phil Baldwin’s excellent knock of 40 held up Lashings before Kulkarni (5-24) and ‘star for a day’ Charlie Calloway (2-32) mopped up the tail to leave the home team 180 all out and Lashings the winners by 75 runs.
Scott Charlton of Lashings thanked HTP for their match sponsorship, Red Funnel for providing travel across the Solent, and the public for their great support of this increasingly popular event.
Rachael Fidler, on behalf of HTP, presented champagne to men of the match Aravinda de Silva and Phil Baldwin, to bring to a close another memorable day.
Images: Soul Surfing
