Steep v Hawkley: HAWKLEY captain Ashley Fooks won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on a hot sunny afternoon.

Opening batsman Ed Peel played in typically pugnacious style and was ably supported by Barry Allison as the 50-run partnership came up in the eighth over.

Peel reached his half-century in the 12th over before edging behind and Allison holed out to mid-off to leave the score on 86-2.

Hawkley skipper Fooks rebuilt the innings and with the help of Paul Cross took the score to 135 before Cross was caught at square-leg.

Thereafter Fooks accelerated as he passed his half-century as Hawkley’s innings closed on 194-5.

Steep’s innings began as a two-paced affair. Tom McCubbin plundered 19 runs off the first four overs bowled by Nick Hudson, while at the other end Liam Lloyd conceded only one run from his four-over spell, leaving Steep well behind the required run rate.

A change of bowling saw James Pringle bowl McCubbin. New batsman Jack Campbell set about the bowling with an impressive array of strokes, and Hawkley shuffled the field to try to keep Campbell off strike.

Campbell launched Peel into the neighbouring field for six but lost his middle stump from the next delivery. Thereafter the scoring slowed and 19 runs were needed off the last two overs.

Steep could only score four runs off Hudson’s penultimate over and Peel made no mistake with his final six balls as the hosts finished on 185-9 off their 35 overs.