Hale Barns First XI secured a remarkable win at Runcorn CC as they posted a club record total of 316-7 before cleaning up the hosts inside 30 overs to seal an emphatic victory by 165 runs.
Tommy Smith, Ben Staniforth and Campbell Vadlja all contributed with half centuries, while Ben Hicks wrapped things up with five wickets to lift the team into the top half of the table.
Barns suffered a stuttering start as prolific run scorer Joe Cooper was dismissed in the seventh over for just 10, but Smith and Staniforth formed a promising partnership as both players found the boundary at ease with countless attacking strokes.
The duo brought up the fifty partnership after 17 overs and then accelerated the scoring rate, with Staniforth striking two maximums on his way to a terrific half century, while Smith also reached the same milestone.
DJ McNamara came up with the breakthrough as he sent Staniforth back to the pavilion for 62 and Smith followed three overs later for 78, but Khurram Hussain and Vadlja continued the onslaught to compound the misery on the Runcorn bowlers.
Hussain struck a rapid 40 before falling to McNamara (2-76), while Christian Dodson (26) enjoyed a brief cameo before being run out as Barns edged closer to 300.
And it was Vadlja and Hicks (17 not out) to finish off proceedings with a flourish as the former became the third half-centurion of the innings, ending unbeaten on a stylish 57 as Barns posted a mammoth total of 316-7
The hosts could not have wished for a worse start to their run chase as they collapsed to 13-5 inside nine overs as Hicks ran riot with four wickets with the new ball, while Joe Fretwell-Walsh (1-48) claimed one of his own.
Ryan Beech & Jack Beech attempted to recover the innings by adding 64 for the sixth wicket partnership, with R Beech producing a destructive counter-attacking effort.
Cooper’s introduction into the attack brought immediate success as he provided a breakthrough in his first over, with J Beech falling for 16 and another wicket came shortly after to leave Runcorn reeling on 98-7.
R Beech continued to hit boundaries at will, scoring 17 fours and two sixes during an entertaining knock, but his resistance finally ended just nine runs short of a century after becoming Cooper’s third victim in the 26th over.
Cooper (4-43) quickly added another to his tally, but he was denied a five-wicket haul by Hicks, who claimed the milestone himself by removing Phillip Conway for 20 to seal a memorable victory for the visitors.