Anthony Alleyne rocks back [Dave Reynolds]
Ventnor clinched the Southern Premier Division 2 promotion spot behind champions Liphook & Ripsley – but had to fight tooth and nail before beating already relegated South Wilts’ seconds by four wickets in front of Steephill’s biggest crowd for some time.
Ventnor knew they had to win too because at tea-time OTs & Romsey were second in the log having thrashed Paultons, the other relegated club, by nine wickets.
In a contest that ebbed and flowed, Ventnor were not in the best shape at 154-6 chasing the visitors’ 222-9 and knew that anything less than a victory would hand promotion to the Romsey club. But a tremendous batting partnership between Chris Russell and Martin Blackman for the seventh wicket swept Ventnor to victory with 2.3 overs left.
South Wilts arrived on the island with little save pride to play for. After three straight wins and a tie in July they looked set for a mid-table finish, but four successive defeats, coupled with a points deduction for inadvertently fielding an unregistered school against Liphook on July 31, sent them sliding into the relegation zone.
But they made Ventnor work hard for their spoils, with Joe Cranch (37 and Jack Stearman (28) starting confidently, with Rob Pittman (26) and the emerging James Falconer (30) helping put a tidy 222-9 on the board.
Jim Pidgeon roused the Steephill crowd with his stunning renderings of Jerusalem and Play up Pompey, but Blue Army fan Rob Snell and Mark Fletcher both went for ten.
Stunning
West Indian Anthony Alleyne and Ben Woodhouse (41) eased Ventnor to 129-2, but the Barbados left-hander departed to a stunning catch at backward point by Stearman off schoolboy James Brewer for 70.
Bowling his left-arm floaters, Stearman (with a tidy 3-25 off eight overs) then removed Woodhouse, Zeph Wells and Charlie Calloway to leave Ventnor’s innings at 154-6 and a potential crossroads.
When Russell joined Blackman, only ten overs remained and needing 70 runs to win — but the experienced pair set about their task superbly.
Former Worcestershire man, Russell, upped the tempo with a succession of enormous maximums, finishing on a quickfire 45 not out, while Blackman’s disciplined, unbeaten 24 laid the foundation for the match-winning finale. Ventnor had got home with 15 balls to spare, but it had been far from straightforward.
West Indian Anthony Alleyne predictably finished as the leading batsman in Southern Premier League cricket after hitting his eighth fifty-plus score and clinching the Division 2 runners-up spot for Ventnor.
He made 70 to advance his season’s league aggregate to 696 as Ventnor chased down South Wilts’ 222-9 to win by four wickets with 15 balls to spare.
Bringing Alleyne across from Barbados for the summer certainly paid off for Ventnor, who were a shambles in 2019 losing all 17 Division 1 matches.
The big question facing the Steephill club is what to do next as they’ll need a similar player of Alleyne’s class and status to make a fist of it back in second tier cricket in 2022.
Having played 47 times for Barbados and scored close on 1,800 in Caribbean inter-island cricket, Alleyne was always likely to be a Ventnor winner playing several tiers beneath his level.
Only twice early on did he not make a significant contribution, rattling off seven successive half-centuries or more after making 101 at South Wilts in late June. He was definitely a good signing !
Ventnor knew they had to win too because at tea-time OTs & Romsey were second in the log having thrashed Paultons, the other relegated club, by nine wickets.
In a contest that ebbed and flowed, Ventnor were not in the best shape at 154-6 chasing the visitors’ 222-9 and knew that anything less than a victory would hand promotion to the Romsey club. But a tremendous batting partnership between Chris Russell and Martin Blackman for the seventh wicket swept Ventnor to victory with 2.3 overs left.
South Wilts arrived on the island with little save pride to play for. After three straight wins and a tie in July they looked set for a mid-table finish, but four successive defeats, coupled with a points deduction for inadvertently fielding an unregistered school against Liphook on July 31, sent them sliding into the relegation zone.
But they made Ventnor work hard for their spoils, with Joe Cranch (37 and Jack Stearman (28) starting confidently, with Rob Pittman (26) and the emerging James Falconer (30) helping put a tidy 222-9 on the board.
Jim Pidgeon roused the Steephill crowd with his stunning renderings of Jerusalem and Play up Pompey, but Blue Army fan Rob Snell and Mark Fletcher both went for ten.
Stunning
West Indian Anthony Alleyne and Ben Woodhouse (41) eased Ventnor to 129-2, but the Barbados left-hander departed to a stunning catch at backward point by Stearman off schoolboy James Brewer for 70.
Bowling his left-arm floaters, Stearman (with a tidy 3-25 off eight overs) then removed Woodhouse, Zeph Wells and Charlie Calloway to leave Ventnor’s innings at 154-6 and a potential crossroads.
When Russell joined Blackman, only ten overs remained and needing 70 runs to win — but the experienced pair set about their task superbly.
Former Worcestershire man, Russell, upped the tempo with a succession of enormous maximums, finishing on a quickfire 45 not out, while Blackman’s disciplined, unbeaten 24 laid the foundation for the match-winning finale. Ventnor had got home with 15 balls to spare, but it had been far from straightforward.
West Indian Anthony Alleyne predictably finished as the leading batsman in Southern Premier League cricket after hitting his eighth fifty-plus score and clinching the Division 2 runners-up spot for Ventnor.
He made 70 to advance his season’s league aggregate to 696 as Ventnor chased down South Wilts’ 222-9 to win by four wickets with 15 balls to spare.
Bringing Alleyne across from Barbados for the summer certainly paid off for Ventnor, who were a shambles in 2019 losing all 17 Division 1 matches.
The big question facing the Steephill club is what to do next as they’ll need a similar player of Alleyne’s class and status to make a fist of it back in second tier cricket in 2022.
Having played 47 times for Barbados and scored close on 1,800 in Caribbean inter-island cricket, Alleyne was always likely to be a Ventnor winner playing several tiers beneath his level.
Only twice early on did he not make a significant contribution, rattling off seven successive half-centuries or more after making 101 at South Wilts in late June. He was definitely a good signing !
Ben Woodhouse hit a key 41 v South Wilts II.
