For the amount of rain that fell over the week, the condition of the ground was something of a miracle. On top of this, Alderley Edge and Timperley had been called off, meaning that a win would put Hyde 3rd with a comfortable cushion. However, fresh off their win in the National Knockout Quarter Finals, Nantwich wouldn’t be an easy team to beat. Upon winning the toss, Partridge decided that Hyde would bowl first.

Whittaker and Hannah had custody of the new ball, and as has been customary this season the pair started off bowling a tight, economical line. Regular maidens at the start of the innings choked the Nantwich scoring effort, which lead to the first wicket with Rimmer being well caught by Elliot in close off the bowling of Whittaker. Robinson came in to support Dobson, and in an effort to alleviate pressure, looked to score quickly. This tactic was his undoing, as he sent the ball high into the air only for Cranmer to settle underneath it for a comfortable catch, giving Whittaker his 2nd wicket. He soon had his 3rd, when he trapped Doyle LBW, leaving Nantwich in a precarious position on 48/3 after the departure of their captain. This brought Johnston to the crease, who ably assisted Dobson with a partnership that formed the backbone of the Nantwich innings, adding 47 for the 4th wicket. Johnston was beginning to look set, but he was removed when he was bowled by an absolute Jaffa by Luke Young. Cook-Sievewright didn’t last long before being bowled by Turner, leaving Dobson to carry the brunt of the run scoring, which he accepted as he started to up the scoring. He passed a very well made 50, but was soon bowled by Hannah for 57, leaving Nantwich 128/6. It was soon 128/7 following a calamitous mix up between Griffiths and Stockton, leaving Stockton yards short of his ground when Allcock finally whipped the bails off after a wayward throw from Turner. Griffiths himself had to return to the sheds after a clever piece of bowling by Hannah had him bowled for a duck. Wardley was trapped LBW by Balderson and Warrington was bowled by Hannah, leaving Nantwich 145 all out.

Hyde looked to have a simple enough task ahead of them, aided by the 62 overs available to them. Partridge and Young were tasked with starting the run chase. However, as in the first innings, the Nantwich openers were incredibly miserly, with some nagging bowling that proved difficult to score off. Partridge was the first to depart, caught by Stockton off the bowling of Spencer without troubling the scorers. Young wasn’t too far behind him, picking out Wardley off the bowling of Warrington. Fisher and Balderson were looking to get the Hyde innings going after something of a false start, and were starting to score with a slight bit of freedom, but Fisher was caught by Wardley, again off the bowling of Warrington for 10, leaving Hyde a bit in the lurch on 23/3. Whittaker entered the fray as an anchor to allow Balderson to get going, which he promptly did. Balderson, after a month away playing with England U19s, looked solid and started to get the scoreboard ticking over for Hyde. It was somewhat of a surprise then, when Stockton hit the top of his off stump, Balderson turning to look at his stumps with confusion. He later admitted that he was surprised as he hadn’t felt like was going to get out. Stockton had his 2nd soon after, when Whittaker was caught by Robinson in the slips, and Hyde were in all sorts of bother at 65/5. Turner was brought to the crease, to a chorus of chirps from the fielding side, which got even louder when he was dismissed LBW by Stockton for a 3rd ball duck. Elliot started to score a couple of runs, before he was dismissed in a moment of controversy, when a nick carried to slip, which appeared to have been a bump ball. However, the Nantwich captain claimed the catch and the Umpires agreed, forcing Elliot to depart. Allcock stuck a couple of blows, including a 6, but he sent one sailing into the sky to be caught by Wardley off of Spencer. Soon afterward Cranmer was dismissed in a near identical fashion (same fielder, same bowler). When Carne was cleaned up for 1 by Spencer the very next ball, Hyde were 96 all out, with Spencer completing his 5fer.

While a big opportunity was missed with regards to league position, in the grander scheme of things, not a lot was lost for Hyde. We can definitely take some positives from the game; I thought the bowling and fielding was very good. The batting was poor, but I believe is was a temporary blip, and I back it to be firing on all cylinders next week when we travel to Grappenhall.

By James Howe