CALLUM Schora claimed six wickets to lead Hale Barns first XI to a four-wicket win at Irby as the club recorded back-to-back away wins to start the Cheshire Cricket League Division One season.

The spinner ripped through the middle order to restrict the hosts to just 90, before captain Shehan Fernando produced an unbeaten 40 to seal the victory.

The hosts had the better of the early stages as the opening pair of Luke Dolan and Stephen Venables remained in tandem for the first 12 overs, taking the score onto 35-0.

But Barns finally made the breakthrough when Ben Hicks (1-11) got one to lift on Venables, who edged behind to keeper Mike Hunter for 12.

Jack Wylie (1-25) then got his reward for a tight spell of bowling as Anthony McCarthy (12) picked out Jordan Collins for a simple catch at point.

With the score on 64-2 from 28 overs, Irby were desperate to accelerate the innings, but two wickets in an over by Schora, including the dismissal of opener Dolan for 27, put them on the back foot.

Justin Overend (17) attempted to spark a recovery, finding the boundary on a couple of occasions, but became another Schora victim, while Dave Saddington joined the party with a wicket of his own.

And that sparked a collapse as the home side lost their final six wickets for just 10 runs, with Schora removing three more batsmen to finish with figures of 6-22.

Saddington (2-6) completed the innings with his second wicket to put the away team in the ascendancy.

In reply, Barns made a stuttering start, stumbling to 1-2 as Hunter and Khawar Iqbal were both back in the pavilion without troubling the scorers.

Chris Colley soon joined them for just five to leave the side reeling on 7-3 with less than five overs played.

But Fernando and Peter Stubbs weathered the storm, adding 51 to the score for the fourth-wicket partnership to ease the nerves.

Stubbs eventually departed for a patient 20, before Hicks became the third batsman in the innings to make a duck just two balls later.

Irby spinner Rob Mallon (3-31) pulled off an impressive caught-and-bowled to end Collins’ (14) cameo, but Dodson (six not out) and Fernando (40no) saw Barns home with 20 overs to spare, with the latter securing victory with the only six of the game.

The result sees the firsts remain joint top of the table, alongside Romiley and Runcorn.