HUNDREDS lined the boundary at London Road cricket ground to see Lashings World XI defeat Andover by 83 runs last Sunday and lift the Naomi House Cup.

In perfect sunshine a crowd of more than 600 flooded into the local ground to see a host of international stars take part in the match, sponsored by Verve Accounting, and weren’t disappointed with the entertainment on show.

Ex-South Africa international Herschelle Gibbs wowed the crowds with a powerful 95 while Scott Styris (27) and Yasir Arafat (22) helped power the Lashings XI to 193-6 from their 20 overs.

Andover’s reply never really got going with former England captain John Emburey (3-23) and former England seamer Phil DeFreitas (3-19) the pick of the bowlers.

Indian star Wasim Jaffer partnered Gibbs in opening the batting and the pair soon began to find the boundary despite difficulty with Mike Adams’ slower ball.

Ed Duckworth then struck twice in quick succession for Andover, taking the wicket of Jaffer before clean bowling ex-England international and current Hampshire batsman Owais Shah with a magical delivery.

This brought Styris to the crease and alongside Gibbs they had the crowd ducking for cover as the ball began to sail to all parts.

Gibbs raced to 50 but fell just short of his century, striking six sixes and eight fours before departing to loud applause.

Luke Graham and Danny Foy both picked up two wickets to pin back the visitors before DeFreitas smashed 19 off just six balls to end the innings.

A positive start was needed if Andover were to chase down the formidable target but Alex Tudor struck twice early on to remove both Glyn Treagus and Byron Haycock.

Dave Taylor put up some resistance with 31 but fell lbw to former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and wickets began to tumble from there on.

Four boundaries from Matt Knight (24) helped take the Andover total over the hundred mark but spinner Min Patel was on hand to take the final wicket and secure the Naomi House Cup for the Lashings XI.

 

See Friday's Advertiser for a full page spread on Sunday's game.