Hyde loosened their grip on the lead of the Cheshire County Cricket League after a draw on the road at Brooklands.
Tom Partridge’s side chose to bat first in difficult conditions, with openers Luke Young and Lancashire Under-18s starlet Liam Grindlay the epitome of patience as they kept the Sale side’s attack at bay for more than an hour.
They both fell to Aj Hart for 21 and 20 runs, respectively, but progress elsewhere was painful, with Max Harsham and Charlie Barnard scoring a combined 12 runs in 60 deliveries.
Partridge dropped himself to number six, but despite a couple of quickfire boundaries he couldn’t keep Hart at bay, who finished his spell with 3-30 and six maidens.
David Fitzsimmon and wicket keeper Adam Worrall brought back some stability for Hyde, lifting the visitors from 84-7 to 127-8 before finishing on 139 all out.
It was almost a mirror image with Brooklands at the crease. Opener Dave Cunliffe carried his bat for three hours in making a careful 36 not out, while his brother Ben – on the back of catching three Hyde wickets – made 46 in almost two hours before being outfoxed by Charlie Barnard.
It was the start of a devastating spell with the ball for the Lancs all-rounder who sent a trio of Brooklands players back inside for just four runs, posting figures of 3-22 with half a dozen maidens.
The home side never recovered, with nobody else outside the top order reaching double figures and collapsing from 97-3 to 114-9 thanks in part to Aussie bowler Liam Bowe ripping through three wickets in the 42nd over.
However, Brooklands survived the final two overs with Dave Cunliffe cocoon-like in his resistance and protection of last man Rob Leach, who has only scored higher than 4 runs once this season, and closed out on 0 not out to secure the draw with 118-9.
The result gave mid-table Brooklands 7 points and 13 to Hyde, which wasn’t enough to stay top of the pile.
Title challengers Didsbury and Nantwich faced each other in a game restricted to 20 overs per side. The home team took 16 points for their 155-8 – to lead the table by two points – while Nantwich scored 10 points in reaching 125-9.
