Hyde chase down under par innings
WIDNES took on table-topping Hyde without captain Tom Evans, but full of confidence following last week’s win over Toft.
Veteran Chris Kirby stepped in to captain the side and won the toss. Perhaps surprisingly he elected to bat first, given that the Widnes bowling attack has struggled to take all 10 wickets, when bowling second.
Ali Chughtai opened the innings with Kirby and, on a belting wicket, started in sedate fashion. Kirby in particular struggled to find any fluency and after 20 overs Widnes had only accumulated 50 runs. Chughtai was first to fall, caught off Balderson for 34, bringing to the wicket Kieran Maher.
Immediately the tempo of the innings increased.
The 100 came up off just another nine overs with Maher’s contribution 37 before two quick wickets halted Widnes’ momentum. Kirby fell to Cranmer for a patient 33, followed by Maher who was adjudged LBW for 37 from just 26 balls.
Burns and Luthra looked to rebuild the innings. Burns, batting with the confidence of a string of good scores, looked to push the score along but was bowled for 39, having struck six fours.
Luthra made a second successive 50 before being caught off Cramner for 58 leaving
Alex Hewitt to progress the score up to 233 from the allotted 55 overs. Taking account of the quality of the wicket and the speedy out field, the Widnes total of 233 could be considered 30 runs short of a par score.
An early breakthrough was needed in order to put some pressure on
Hyde, and Qamar Hafiz did just that having Fonseka caught and bowled for 4.
Luke Young steadied the Hyde ship, and advanced the score to 59 before he fell to Soni for 36. Despite Worral having to retire with what looked like a serious leg injury, Barnard took the score past 100 before Soni was able to remove Fitzsimmons for 26.
Jackson joined Barnard and very quickly stamped his authority on the match. With six fours and three sixes Jackson went passed his 50 in 40 balls and despite losing Barnard for 61, steered Hyde past their target with 28 balls to spare. Jackson finished the day on 87 not out from just 67 balls, with only Widnes bowler Aaron Soni, with three wickets for 66 runs able to make an impact with the ball.
Widnes take on Chester Boughton Hall this Saturday and must hope that the bowling department can better rival the performance of the batters, if they are to get anything from the match.
Congratulations also go to the Widnes under nines who were triumphant in the prestigious Ainsdale 6-a-side competition last Sunday.