Lavine brings the Caribbean to Ptch

Barbados-born Mark Lavine turned on a bit of Caribbean style on Saturday to entertain fans in a one of the backwaters of the cricket world with a all-round performance that continues to have the fancied Highveld Strikers on the back foot against North West.

After taking career-best figures of six for 55 in the the Strikers' first innings, Lavine held the North West reply together with a hard-hitting 85, before taking the one Strikers wicket to fall before stumps on day two.

Lavine's knock came off just 97 balls and included ten fours and three sixes, helping to hold together a North West innigs that at one stage looked as if it was on the point of imploding dramatically.

When Lavine strode to the wicket, North West had just lost their fourth wicket with just 109 on the board. Despite a useful start from the openers, wickets fell at irritatingly regular intervals for North West as they looked to establish a healthy first innings lead.

That they earned an advantage of 53 runs was as much a result of some fine batting for the tenth wicket as it was the product of Lavine's brilliance. Roe and Jordaan rode their luck in a partnership of 49, frustrating the Strikers attack with a succession of unorthodox strokes.

The sense that Lavine was the beneficiary of some divine assistance was only enhanced when he raced in to take the only Strikers wicket to fall before bad light stopped play - Bacher caught behind by Poole for just nine. If North West can continue to prise such spectacular performances from Lavine and play with the kind of collective commitment they have already shown this season, they may have a surprise in store for some of the other traditional powerhouses on their visits to Potchefstrom.