Reed CC round-up

SHL Division 2

Reed 250-4 (50 overs)

Hemel Hempstead 146 (34 overs)

Reed won by 104 runs

A DEPLETED Reed overcame third placed Hemel Hempstead by 104 runs on Saturday.

Stand-in skipper Lee Johnson won the toss and didn’t hesitate to elect to bat, on a wicket that looked dry and hard. Mckecknie and Greaves opened up for Reed, to the unusual combination of Hemel’s attack of seam and spin. Both batsmen started relatively slowly to some tight bowling, but soon played themselves in to provide Reed a very good starting block to build on.

Mckecknie (40) was first to depart, caught and bowled having put on 121 for the opening wicket. Chris Jackson joined Greaves to the crease, and looking to dominate the bowling of Canham, the latter was out 10 runs short of his century, stumped for an excellent 90.

With the score at 142-2, Hemel thought they were back in the game, however a quick-fire 36 from Karl Ward continued Reed’s momentum before he was caught out in the deep.

It was then down to Jackson and Roddi Liebenberg, to continue the home side’s domination. Liebenberg (22) was unfortunate to be out on the last ball of the innings with Reed posting 250 on the board for the loss of four wickets. Jackson finished unbeaten on 53.

In reply, Reed got off to the best possible start with Johnson bowling Hemel’s skipper with the score on just 5. Jack Tidey, taking the new ball, was unlucky in his opening spell, having beaten the bat on a number of occasions. However, he was eventually rewarded when Berry nicked one to his brother Sean behind the stumps.

At 35-2, Reed felt they were in strong position to dominate further, however Morgan and Akhtar had different ideas and looked to punish anything full.

The introduction of Tom Greaves (3-39) to the attack saw the end of Akhtar, clean bowling the batsman for a useful 37.

The turning point to the game was the wicket of Morgan – a sharp stumping off the bowling of Peckett by Sean Tidey for 52. Peckett, who had worked tirelessly hard and bowled a tight line and length, continued to pick up regular wickets in a fine spell. It was only just that Peckett picked up the final Hemel wicket, to finish with figures of 5-36, and Reed winning by 104 runs.

Reed IIs completed a comfortable 130-run win over Welwyn Garden City IIIs in their Division 6 match.

Opener Matt Bowles (35) was first to be dismissed before Reed went from 56-1 to 97-6.

Marcus Baker joined Will Dobson and the pair started to be more aggressive against the two Welwyn bowlers and it looked to be paying dividends as the pair put on 47 before Baker was caught at mid-on with a full length one-handed catch.

It looked like maximum batting points would be out of the question, but Keiran Wheeler (25) had other ideas. He and Dobson (58*) decided that aggression was the answer and moved the score along to 205.

After tea Reed Wheeler and Peter Tidey opened the bowling. Tidey bowled a tight spell and was unlucky to get at least one wicket, but it was Wheeler who did the damage, picking up the first six wickets and a ten-fer was on the cards, but after 15 overs he was replaced with figures of 6-26. Rupert Martin replaced Tidey when the new ball was taken and it was him who took the seventh wicket.

Martin was even involved in the run-out that removed Islam leaving the home side 74-9. Martin soon finished off the innings bowling Moscrop and seeing Reed to a 130-run victory.

Reed IIIs raced to an excellent eight-wicket victory away at Kings Langley.

The home team declared on 252-6 after their 50 overs and it looked as though Reed would have a tough job on their hands to gain a victory.

However, William Heslam and Paul Garrott (65) played superbly and it wasn’t until the 34th over, with the score on 239 (a club record first-wicket partnership), that Langley took their first wicket, removing Heslam (143) lbw.

It was left to Ben Bowles and Scott Caine to see Reed home, the target being reached in less then 40 overs. Reed ended on 253-2 in 39.2 overs collecting all 30 points with the shell-shocked hosts managing 12 points.