Reed secured an excellent three-wicket win over third-placed Botany Bay at the Green on Saturday.

Despite Ben Howgego’s century for Bay as they chose to bat first, Phil Lill (3-39) and Jack Tidey (3-51) mopped up the visiting order.

Chasing 204 to win, number four Chris Jackson’s 68 not out set Reed on their way, with decent totals from Mitchell Cooper (31), Tom Greaves (27) and Sean Tidey (27) ensuring Reed’s second successive league win.

After the significant rainfall the previous day, Reed captain James Heslam chose to put the visitors in despite the threat of some prolific batsmen in the away ranks.

This strength soon became apparent as ex-Northants man Howgego began in ominous form on a wicket which seemed to have responded well to being covered.

Although Kasey Harris (19) and Dan Kastelik (7) went relatively cheaply to Greaves (1-46) and Reece Fitzgerald (1-22) well caught by Jackson and Will Heslam, the classy Howgego had put the visitors in control of the game by lunch at 154-2 off 34 overs.

Reed knew they needed to remove the visitors quickly after lunch and they did in fantastic style.

Jack Tidey (3-51) opened the door by removing Howgego for a superb 101 and then he and Lill ripped through the visiting middle order reducing them to 175-7 off 41 overs.

Reed eventually took the last three wickets to leave the Bay all out for 203 in the 53rd over, with Toby Fynn (2-30) returning to finish things off nicely.

Despite the significant turnaround, Reed knew they would need to bat well to triumph against a testing Bay attack.

They got off to a slow but steady start before three quick wickets left the hosts in trouble at 31-3, with Will Heslam (19) the only batsman to reach double figures at this stage.

However, the fourth wicket partnership proved crucial as Jackson and Cooper steadied the ship.

Cooper’s 31 kept Reed in the hunt with Greaves and Sean Tidey solidifying their chase.

Just when a Reed win seemed almost certain, Tidey went, swiftly followed by Lill, who was a little unlucky to be the subject of an outstanding Howgego catch.

Nevertheless, Jackson guided the hosts home with two overs left for a second successive win, after beating West Herts last week. Reed move up to fifth, one point off fourth.