Widnes just prevail in a one-wicket thriller
WIDNES Cricket Club’s first XI travelled the outskirts of the county to play league contenders Hyde.
The pitch had a greenish tinge to it but was hard as rock. After losing the toss, Widnes captain Tom Evans noted his Hyde counterpart, Danny Berry, had thought for a while before deciding to bat.
Tom Partridge returned to open with the captain. Hyde, however, got off to the worst possible start, losing Berry for a third ball duck to Qamar Hafiz, trapped lbw.
David Fisher was in next, and he looked fairly comfortable. Then in the fourth over, Fisher blocked out a Johnathan Campbell delivery, which itself was not going to go onto the stumps, but in an attempt to make sure, Fisher kicked it onto his middle stick.
Much to the adulation of the Widnes team, Hyde were 9-2 and were in a spot of bother when Jason Whittaker took to the crease.
Partridge and Whittaker looked solid, and the pair added 62 for the third wicket, rebuilding well from a poor start.
Partridge began to get tied down by the accurate bowling of Majid Majeed and was caught by Campbell trying to put him away after making 26.
Luke Young came to the crease and played a well-disciplined innings of 10, when he went back to Majeed who skidded one through to bowl him.
Whittaker was not too far behind, finally departing for an excellent 48 when Majeed snared him lbw, leaving Hyde 104-5.
Daniel Cranmer and Glyn Peacock ● looked to move the score along a bit quicker, finding the boundary at regular intervals.
Cranmer was the first of the pair to depart when he was bowled by Hafiz for 30.
Ben Allcock took his place in the middle and continued the rapid run rate.
Hyde were looking to finish up and around the 200 mark, but Peacock soon skied Campbell to be caught by the wicketkeeper Chris Kirby for 26.
Joseph Dawber came and went to a second ball lbw delivered by Hafiz before James Chew was run out by Campbell, after being the victim of a mix-up.
Hyde’s innings ended two balls into the final over, when Allcock lofted Hafiz and was gloved by Kirby, leaving Hyde 187 all out.
While Hyde had put on a score that appeared to be under par, they seemed ● confident that a strong bowling performance could produce a win.
It took until the seventh over for Hyde to make the breakthrough, when Kirby picked out Peacock in the cordon of Whittaker’s bowling to go for 10.
Bailey Wightman struck in the next over, bowling Matt Burns who had made a single.
The same Hyde bowler struck again two balls later, when a diving Peacock removed Campbell with a wonderful catch without troubling the scorers.
Mike Byrne and Majeed looked to have steered Widnes away from a batting collapse. They succeeded in adding 33 before Cranmer claimed Byrne’s wicket with an lbw.
Widnes were 52-4, and looking shaky. Alex Hewitt joined Majeed, and the pair looked to score quickly, both going at a high strike rate.
Hewitt departed after being caught by Berry off Dawber for 20.
Rob Magee was the new man in, and looked to score in a similar fashion.
The pair added 62 for the sixth wicket, seeing Majeed past his 50 to add to his three wickets from Hyde’s innings.
At this point, with 30 runs required, and five wickets in hand, it looked like a walk in the park for Widnes.
This was until Wightman claimed his third victim, trapping Magee in front.
Chew was the new bowler, looking to spin the most unlikely of wins for Hyde. He removed Hafiz after seeing him launch a pair of sixes out of the ground.
Chew then removed dangerman Majeed for 84. Having hit eight fours and four delightful sixes. Chew took his third wicket in quick succession as Owen Price skied one to Whittaker.
It was now 180-9 and Widnes looked like they would blow their opportunity to topple the previously unbeaten Hyde.
However, in a dramatic conclusion to the game, the final pair of Evans and Will Myers added the remaining runs required, with Myers hitting Chew down the ground for four to bring up the win for Widnes. ● WIDNES’S second XI lost at home to Bramhall. Having posted 225, Bramhall chased it down in the 46th over losing six wickets in the process.
This Saturday sees the first XI entertain Barrow at home with a 1pm start, whilst the second XI travel to Stockport Georgians, also a 1pm start.
On Sunday, Lancashire Ladies’ first XI play a round robin tournament against Surrey and Yorkshire starting at 10.30am and running until about 7pm. Admission is free and there will be a barbecue and drinks promotions on the day.