Boyce carries his bat '¨but Syston boss derby

Syston Town, from left, back - Ketan Dudharejia, George Corbert, Charlie Taylor, Carl Fourie, Amer Mazir, Ram Ghuman; front - Jack Blackwell. Charlie Wootton, Umar Razaq, Ben Drake, Zahir Tahir EMN-160622-082228002

Barkby skipper Steve Flowers won the toss and elected to bowl on a good pitch and Will Fazakerley and Ian Kirk troubled the Syston openers.

Kirk put down a catch off his own bowling, but then had George Corbett edging to Martin Troop.

Umar Razzaq and Ghuman took the attack to Barkby’s bowlers, and took a particular fancy to the left-arm spin of Rob Townsend.

Barkby United, from left, back - Eamonn Bourke, Rob Townsend, Aiden Morris, Tom Flowers, Matthew Harby, Max Carmichael; front - Matthew Boyce, Martin Troop, Stephen Flowers, Jamie Drake, Ian Kirk. EMN-160628-102447002

Aiden Morris and Jamie Drake bowled with control and consistency to stem the flow of boundaries, but the hosts reached 200 with only one wicket down.

Matthew Boyce was flung into the attack and finally took Barkby’s second wicket when Razzaq was caught in the deep by Townsend for a well-made 81.

Boyce bowled tightly and had Charles Wootton dropped on 0 by Jack Wood at deep square leg, but Fazakerley had Ghuman caught in the deep by Boyce for 101.

Wootton went on to make 48 before he holed out to Morris off Kirk (9-2-43-2) as Syston closed their 50 overs on an imposing 305-4.

Barkby’s chase started positively when Tom Flowers looked to hit early boundaries, but he played around a straight one and was bowled by George Corbett for 13.

Ian Kirk and Boyce saw off opening bowlers Corbett and Henry Whait, with both batsmen finding the boundary consistently until Kirk played across the line and was bowled by Carel Fourie for 25.

Conor Percy was dismissed by Razzaq for a painstaking 11, and Steve Flowers’ was caught behind first ball.

Two more Barkby wickets fell when Fazakerley was bowled by Ketan for 8, and Morris was caught at long on for one.

But Boyce continued to tick along nicely in hostile conditions, well supported by Rob Townsend who played the Syston spinners with intelligence before departing for 21.

Corbett clean bowled Jamie Drake (20) to set up a nervous final few overs as Barkby reached 200 with eight wickets down.

Troop helped Barkby avoid defeat with solid defensive strokes, but Boyce was the real saviour, batting out the full 50 overs, and finishing two short of a well-deserved century as Barkby closed on 224-8.

Barkby’s seven-point haul keeps them fifth, while Syston remain fourth.