BEN Hicks continued his astonishing form by taking nine wickets as Hale Barns' first XI dismantled Barnton by 154 runs to close the gap on the leading pack in the Cheshire Cricket League Division One.

Joe Cooper starred with the bat as he made an unbeaten ton, but it was Hicks who stole the show after producing the best figures of any bowler across the Cheshire leagues since the 2015 season.

Barns were on top from the off as Ben Staniforth and Cooper saw out the opening 10 overs unscathed with the score on 40 until the former was the first man out for 13.

Cooper continued to score freely and was joined by Mike Hunter, who was more cautious in his approach as the pair formed a solid partnership.

The visitors had set the foundations for a late surge at 125-2 with 10 overs remaining when Hunter fell for a patient 29, with Hashir Dafedar’s introduction to the action producing an acceleration of the run rate.

The overseas youngster struck a quickfire 27 before becoming Adam Garrod’s (2-51) second victim with the score on 171-3, while Cooper remained an immovable object as he approached his century.

And he managed to reach three figures to cap off an excellent knock, eventually ending on 102 not out to help Hale post an imposing total of 199-4.

Barnton’s reply suffered an immediate setback when Hicks gained a breakthrough with just two runs on the board, although a recovery appeared to be in progress with Cook and Garrod carefully negotiating the early onslaught.

However, Dave Saddington held on to a catch off his own bowling which prompted a dramatic collapse as Hicks found his groove and became almost unplayable.

The left-armer claimed a flurry of dismissals in quick succession, including a sensational delivery to remove Garrod (15) to secure his third five-wicket haul in a row.

And the wickets continued to tumble with Hicks wiping out the rest of the Barnton batting line-up for just 45, ending with incredible figures of 9-19 from 12 overs to increase his tally to 24 wickets in his last four league outings.