Barrow were rocked from the very first ball, when a mix up between De Silva and Reid lead to Hewitt running the skipper out without him facing a ball. De Silva followed his captain the very next ball, when he was bowled by Whittaker. Woodcock fared little better departing for 1 after spooning Whittaker high up, with Fitzsimmons taking the catch. Barrow were 1/3 and reeling. Their troubles deepened when McClements was removed by a stunning catch by Duffy off Whittaker. Wightman quickly got in on the act, dismissing Ogilby with a quick bouncer, forcing Allcock to make a good catch behind the stumps. 8/5. Afridi and Dwyer put together the largest partnership of Barrow’s innings, adding 15 for the 6th wicket, before Wightman ended their time together. Dwyer added 13 to the score, hitting a few boundaries, but couldn’t deny Whittaker, becoming his 4th victim when he snicked through to Duffy in the slips. Hughes followed suit, finding Duffy once more, this time off Wightman’s bowling. 33/8. Johnson and Noble added 13 more for the 9th wicket, but their Partnership was shattered when Wightman comprehensively bowled Johnson, with the bail falling just short of the boundary rope. Noble and Barrow batted stubbornly for the 10th wicket, with Noble reaching the top score of 16. However, the innings was all over when Barrow was trapped in front by Whittaker, wrapping up his 5fer and leaving Barrow 59 all out.

Cranmer and Allcock opened the innings up for Hyde, and both looked to score quickly, finding the boundary at regular intervals. Cranmer fell for 11, trying to end the game in a hurry with a slog sweep off De Silva, only to be bowled. Balderson joined Allcock, and the pair continued to score. Balderson was rattled by a Johnson bouncer, but otherwise the pair looked comfortable, chasing down Barrow’s score in the 12th over. Allcock and Balderson finished on 28 and 18 respectively.

To those looking at the scorecard, Barrow’s wicket may have had some demons in it. However, Hyde’s skipper said that he would have chosen to bat had the coin fell the other way. Hyde were just a class above Barrow. We host Upton next week, a team who lie a single point behind us, offering one team the opportunity to take an early league lead.

James Howe