Reed bowler Alex Mutucumarana put the disappointment of a second Saracens Hertfordshire Championship defeat at Totteridge the previous day behind him with a majestic National Village Cup bowling spell at Datchworth on Sunday.

Bowling first after winning the toss, at 57-1, Mutucumarana entered the fold and blew the Division Three B side away, claiming seven wickets from nine balls including five straight dismissals for no loss as Reed made their lower-league opponents submit for 63 all out.

The visitors, who won the 2012 National Village Cup at Lords, knocked off the small total in 12 overs to ensure they face Langleybury in the regional final on June 14, but the day belonged to the bowler - not that the man himself felt that way at the time.

Following the win, Mutucumarana said: “It didn’t feel real at the time because I don’t see myself as a bowler.

“They’d got 57 without loss in the first 11 overs, and when I came on I was just trying to put the ball in the right areas and contain them a bit.

“During my fourth over I took three wickets but they were separated by a dot ball and a two, which I half appealed for because the guy would have been LBW had he missed it, but he somehow got a bat on it.

“When I get him out last ball of the over I told myself to concentrate as I felt the momentum was shifting in my favour and the ball was definitely starting to talk.”

With two more wickets taken, the Reed man was starting to get excited by what was unfolding before him.

He continued: “I had too much time to think about the fact that I was about to have a shot at a double hat-trick and I had to take a moment at the start of my run.

“I tried to clear my head, thinking when I looked at the number 11 that I would never get another moment like this again. However, I bowled a wide. The final wicket went in the following over and even when we hit the winning runs I could not believe what I had done.

“I have taken five wicket hauls and hit centuries before but this may top all that.

“It will definitely be something I wont forget for some time.”