BEN Hicks took four wickets in a losing effort as Hale Barns first XI slumped to their first defeat of the Cheshire Cricket League Division One season against Stockport Georgians at Brooks Drive.

A century from Stockport’s overseas batsman Matt Hunter secured victory for the visitors by three wickets, having recovered from a top-order batting collapse.

Barns began in solid fashion on a fine batting track as Chris Colley and Mike Hunter took the score onto 42-0 after 12 overs.

But the momentum of the game soon changed when Christopher Dodd (2-55) dismissed Colley (24) and Fernando (four) in quick succession.

Hunter continued to accumulate runs at one end, but wickets fell around him as spinner James Locke (4-56) removed Peter Stubbs (13), who felt unlucky to be adjudged lbw and Khawar Iqbal (nine) after a controversial stumping decision.

Hunter finally departed for a patient 37, before Hicks became Locke’s fourth victim for a brisk 23 that included three sixes as the hosts fell from 90-3 to 118-6 with 10 overs remaining.

Christian Dodson continued to escalate the run rate with a rapid 16, while Nick Lathbury looked comfortable in making almost a run-a-ball 24.

Jack Wylie also contributed an unbeaten 16 as Barns added 69 to the score from the final 10 overs to set the away team a target of 180 to win.

Stockport’s run chase began disastrously with Michael Kilbride sent back to the pavilion by Hicks in the first over for a second-ball duck.

Dodson was forced off the field having bowled just one ball, suffering a freakish injury after falling onto his wrist during his delivery stride.

He was replaced in the attack by Wylie, who found instant success as he dismissed Hayden Bailey two balls later without troubling the scorers, reducing the chasing side to 4-2 from just 1.3 overs.

Barns piled on the pressure and took full command of proceedings as Hicks (4-37) ripped through the top order to restrict Georgians to 41-5 after just 13 overs.

However, Matt Hunter was dropped early in his innings and made the hosts pay, hitting successive maximums to go to a half century, while number seven batsman Ben Jones provided stern resistance in support.

Hunter accelerated his innings in pursuit of the required total and reached three figures after being dropped for a second time as Barns saw their chances slipping away, with the score moving onto 164-5.

The centurion was finally removed for 115 by Fernando (1-46), followed by Jones departing for a well-made 37 to Wylie (2-33), but it was too little too late as Stockport edged over the line with three wickets and 1.1 overs remaining.

The result drops the firsts to third place in the table, 16 points adrift of leaders Romiley.