It was supposed to be all the fun of the fair, but the match between Western Province-Boland and the Lashings World XI fizzled out as a contest long before the visitors were eventually dismissed in Cape Town on Tuesday.
After a solid total had been posted, the home team’s seamers exploited the conditions beautifully and a well-controlled spell from Paul Adams mopped up the tail.
Choosing to bat first on another fine Newlands pitch, Henry Davids was bowled for a duck by Javagal Srinath for the second time in three days. However, the left-handed pair of Andrew Puttick and Derrin Bassage steered the team to safer waters with a partnership of 44. Puttick was run out for 47.
Skipper Thami Tsolekile played aggressively at first, hitting Pakistani leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed for a straight six early in his innings. He too was run out, but some solid hitting from the tail-enders posted a challenging target of over five to the over.
Srinath and Lance Klusener, although wicketless, proved to be the best of the bowlers. Nantie Hayward was disappointing, conceding almost eight runs an over.
The most successful turned out to be Englishman Adam Hollioake, who burgled three wickets with his medium pacers.
The visiting batsmen were soon in trouble against the new ball. Charl Willoughby bowled superbly, swinging the ball both ways in the cool conditions. The left-armer bowled his spell unchanged, and deserved more than the single wicket he claimed.
Mark Richardson batted doggely for a half-century, but the seamers continued to dominate.
Quinton Friend took three wickets, but his value was more in the field as he ran out Andy Flower with a direct hit and then caught Klusener off the very next ball. The disappointment of the evening was the failure of both local big-hitters, with Justin Kemp holing out to long leg early in his innings. Paul Adams produced some of his best bowling of the season, aided by an excellent catch on the cover boundary by Davids.
In the end it proved to be no contest, but the small crowd did have some cause to applaud the visitors as Richardson, wearing a space-age running suit, beat Willoughby in a 60m sprint. The Lashings team now proceed to Centurion for a match against the Titans on Thursday, while the home team will take heart from their performance as they prepare to contest the Pro20 Series. – Sapa