Eustace stars but

Lashings triumph

A THRILLING century from Stuart Eustace was not enough to help Dorridge defeat a star studded Lashings side on Wednesday. Eustace hit 111 off 89 balls as Dorridge responded to Lashings’ 287-6 off 35 overs. In front of a big crowd Lashings got off to a fine start as Zimbabwean wicket-keeper Brendan Taylor and South African Herschelle Gibbs put on 43 for the first wicket before Fiz Abdullah bowled the latter for 22 to make it 43-1. Elliott Seal then had Marvin Atapattu caught by Abdul Hafeez for 8 before Phil Simmons joined Taylor in the middle and together they put on 107 for the third wicket. Taylor eventually fell for 68 off 67 balls after hitting seven fours and three sixes when caught behind off Hafeez. Chris Cairns wasted little time in setting about the bowlers as he smashed 45 off 12 balls and some further late hitting from Dinesh Mongia (32no off 19 balls) pushed the total to 287-6.

Fiz Abdullah, Elliott Seal, Waqar Mohamed, Abdul Hafeez, Sohaib Masood and Rob Collen all picked up a wicket.

Dorridge’s reply got off to a poor start as Andy Thornley and Imran Jamiel fell cheaply to make it 16-2. Eustace and Dave Ball combined well to put on 129 for the third wicket before Ball fell for 55 off 45 balls. Hafeez followed quickly but Eustace was holding firm as he hit 12 fours and three sixes during his innings. But when he became the fifth wicket to fall, Dorridge’s hopes of forcing an unlikely victory were dealt a big blow. Seal clubbed 38 off 31 balls but Dorridge eventually fell short on 245-6 to fall to a 42run defeat.

Alan Mullally (2-52), Dinesh Mongia (1-64), Phil Simmons (1-49), Ian Hilton (1-9) and Mohammed Akram (1-21) were the wicket-takers for Lashings.

Dorridge celebrate after Fiz Abdullah picks up the wicket of Herschelle Gibbs.