Jackson’s 79 puts Reed on top of Shenley
James Heslam hits a Rob Laney delivery up in the air - Credit: Archant
Chris Jackson struck a crucial 79 for Reed in their opening day win over Shenley Village in the Saracens Herts Championship.
Coming in at 41-3, Jackson anchored the innings as he steered Reed away from a poor start towards a competitive score.
He didn’t finish unbeaten, something his performance deserved, as he was caught two overs before the end of the innings, but he played a major role in helping Reed to 231-7, a total Shenley failed to threaten.
Optimism was in short supply at the start of the day when Reed were put into bat and Sean Tidey was run out from the first ball of the innings. James Heslam (15) and Tom Greaves didn’t hang around too long either as Reed slumped to 41-3.
Jackson, in at four, and Rich Wharton (55) gave the innings a shot in the arm and put on a 68-run partnership before the opener was dismissed, taking Reed to 99-4.
Alex Mutucamarana came in and blasted a 30-ball 40 to up the run-rate, while Jackson continued to plug away at the other end. After Mutucamarana was back in the pavilion, Mitchell Cooper (15), Phil Lill (9*) and Jack Tidey (8*) kept the momentum going with Jackson as Reed posted 231-7.
Shenley started their reply in a hurry but the brakes were soon applied by Tom Walsingham (1-32), Jack Tidy (3-33) and Toby Flynn (3-45), who removed talisman Tom Bruce before he could do too much damage.
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At 62-6, the game was all but lost by Shenley’s late-order batsmen gave the team a little bit of life on an ever-improving wicket.
The glimmer of hope was extinguished as Greaves and Lill (2-34) strangled the run-rate. Walsingham and Flynn returned to mop up the tail and clinch the match with Shenley all out for 189.
