An obstinate tail denied Hyde a statement win at title rivals Nantwich on a dramatic day in the Cheshire County Cricket League.
Put into bat by the hosts, Hyde made steady progress in the top order, with Ryan O’Brien making 67 and Luke Young again impressing in a long stint at the crease for a hard-earned 76.
The visitors accelerated from 151-3 to 239-5 thanks to quickfire knocks of 28 and 24 from Max Harsham and Andrew Jackson, the latter averaging two runs per ball before becoming Mitchell Spencer’s 3rd wicket.
However, the lower order crumpled under pressure from fast bowler Jason Foulkes.
The Wales international had no joy with the specialist batsmen but weighed in with a devastating spell of 5-32 to help skittle Hyde for 288.
Reigning champions Nantwich started brightly before losing Ali Chughtai and Rob Jones in successive Andrew Jackson deliveries to leave them on 31-2.
Luke Robinson averted the hat-trick and raced to a half century in just 44 balls – by time Charlie Hewitt dismissed him for 50 the home team were on a comfortable 143-3.
Their innings threatened to fizzle out after losing three wickets in the next seven overs, and the game was Hyde’s to lose by time Young clean bowled opener Yash Pednekar for 81 to leave Nantwich on 200-7.
That became 201-8 in the next over when Foulkes left for a duck, but Ben Wright – recalled after a week with the 2nd XI – dug in with a patient 30 not out to lead the resistance.
He was ably supported by Scott Wardley (30) and Mitchell Spencer (20 not out), who both timed season’s best performances to perfection to frustrate the Hyde attack.
Nantwich even manoeuvred themselves into an unlikely match-winning situation in needing 7 runs from the final over, but James Chew closed out a nervy endgame to restrict them to 283-9.
The home side took 10 points from the draw, with Hyde’s 16-point haul moving them back above Nantwich and into 2nd place in the table.
Leaders Didsbury took full advantage of the result by scoring a maximum 24 points against relegation-threatened Oxton, while Timperley are now just one point behind Nantwich after taking 18 points from a nail-biting draw at Widnes
The home side’s Rohan Luthra and Palitha Kumara made a spectacular 9th wicket stand of 92 to deny Timperley the extra six points that would have put them level with Hyde.
