HALE BARNS CRICKET CLUB
HALE BARNS CRICKET CLUB
HALE BARNS CRICKET CLUB
HALE BARNS CRICKET CLUB
Tom Saddington scored his maiden half century as Hale Barns First XI dominated their clash with Mobberley CC, but were forced to settle for a winning draw for the second week in a row.
The visitors were never in the running to chase down a target of 214 to win, while Barns came within two wickets of victory as they extended their unbeaten run to six games.
Mobberley claimed the upper hand early on when Abdul Aqeel (2-33) dismissed Joe Cooper for 6, with the opener unable to repeat his unbeaten century from the previous week.
Khurram Hussain enjoyed a fluent knock as he struck eight boundaries in his 38 off 42 balls before falling to Matt Mountney, bringing Saddington to the crease alongside Ben Staniforth.
And the pair piled on the runs, putting on 88 together as Saddington reached his first ever batting milestone, hitting three maximums along the way, including a magnificent strike over cover.
HBCC raced to 147-2 after just 26 overs, but were soon pegged back with three quick wickets as Staniforth (39) was sent back before Saddington’s impressive innings of 59 from 46 deliveries came to an end, taking the score to 153-5 with 20 overs remaining.
Mountney (3-65) then took his tally to three, while a run out further hampered Barns’ momentum to restrict them 174-8. The tail wagged admirably, however, with Ben Croucher (11 not out) nurdling the ball around for singles, Ben Motamed hitting a quickfire 18 and Phil Dodd adding 11.
Younis Khan took the final two dismissals to end with figures of 4-28, but the home side put themselves in a strong position at halfway having made 213 all out from 49 overs.
Barns took nine overs to break the deadlock through Alex Ross with 41 runs on the board, while Mohammed Ali reached 30 before being trapped lbw by Cooper.
Wickets began to tumble, with Motamed (1-16) and Dodd (1-5) chipping in with contributions and Ross (2-43) doubling his tally to reduce Mobberley to 101-5, although just 15 overs remained.
Mark Goodstadt fought a lengthy rearguard action as the away team refused to attempt to chase down the required total, but Cooper (2-41) finally removed him for 28 off 83 balls.
Sam Smith (2-31) then claimed two victims, including Hank Schlaghecke for 25 to give HBCC a slim chance of snatching a deserved win with two wickets to get from the final two overs.
But Barns were denied for a second successive week, with the visitors holding on for a losing draw to prevent HBCC climbing above them into fourth in the table.