Hyde suffer double defeat

Cheshire County Premier Division: Didsbury 234-7  Hyde 219ao

Hyde threw away a great opportunity to put some daylight between them and their relegation rivals as they slipped to defeat at title chasing Didsbury. 

Having won the toss Didsbury somewhat surprisingly chose to bat first, especially given the wet conditions in the area. 

They actually made a reasonable start and despite losing opener Charles Lowen (10) they had moved on to 38 before Cole Turner removed Tim Hughes for 18. 

It started a mini collapse that had Didsbury struggling on 46-4. This brought Cheshire's Nick Anderson to the crease where he joined Henry Hughes. The pair, first, began to repair the damage and then set about the Hyde bowling with a sense of purpose, you would expect from a team challenging for the Premier League crown. 

The duo added 91 for the fifth wicket before Anderson (62) was controversially given out LBW despite seemingly hitting the ball with the bat. 

Everyone in the crowd, as well as the Hyde players, appeared stunned as the umpire raised his finger. 

It was the breakthrough Hyde had needed and at 137-5 their innings was still very much in the balance. 

Hughes batted superbly for his 65 and with Sam Leech adding 32no Didsbury had posted 234-7 from their 55 overs. 
With an imposing total to chase, Hyde started their pursuit of victory in a confident manner. They were going along nicely at four runs per over and reached 42 when David Fisher went for 17. 

The in-form Turner went for just six but Hyde looked reasonably comfortable as they moved the score to 77, when they lost Noah Vickery for 39. 

In came the experienced David Fitzsimmons to join Charlie Barnard at the crease and the pair batted sensibly as they took Hyde beyond the one hundred mark. 

Their ability to frustrate the Didsbury bowlers was certainly wearing down the home side's attack and with each passing over Hyde were putting themselves in a position where they were becoming favourites. 

At 158 for three Hyde were in a really good position with more than 11 overs left and wickets in hand, however Fitzsimmons went for an excellent 46 and Hyde then lost two further wickets to leave them on 174 for six. 

Still there was plenty of batting left and 16-year-old Barnard reached his maiden half-century as Hyde closed on their victory target. 

When he finally fell for a superb 54 Hyde would still have backed themselves to seal the win and with it 25 valuable points, but poor shot selection and game management saw them bowled out for 219, agonisingly 16 runs short of a crucial win. 

*Hyde's weekend woes were compounded with a Cheshire Cup semi-final defeat to Chester on Sunday. 

After being bowled out for 153, Hyde, who were missing a number of key players, had Chester rocking at 79-5, but the home side got over the line, winning by three wickets.