Reed 2nd XI lost their first game in 6 weeks away to Berkhamsted 2nd XI in a rain interrupted promotion battle, despite a good performance.

Winning the toss, and with the sun out and previous weeks good batting form in mind captain Jason Archer made the decision to put Berkhamsted into the field. Ben Bowles and Harry Picton-Turbivell opened the innings for Reed and made a solid start putting on 20 before Picton-Turbivell was bowled by pace bowler James. This brought Matt Bowles to the crease to partner brother Ben, but only one ball was bowled before the heavens opened and play was halted. Play resumed 15 minutes later, and on a wet pitch batting and bowling was proving to be a problem. With Rain again beginning to fall, the decision was again made to halt play.

A 45 minute stop in play meant that he game length was reduced, with Reed allowed a maximum of 45 overs to bat. The Bowles brothers then set about trying to post a score for Reed, with Ben Bowles looking in particularly good form. Running ones and twos on the slippery pitch was becoming increasingly difficult, and with this in mind boundaries became the main source of runs for Reed. Matt Bowles punished the bad balls well, including some fearsome pull shots on his way to 31, but was eventually caught in slips off of the bowling of Ezzard. In form Ian Fulk then joined Ben Bowles, and the pair carried on adding to the Reed total, despite the difficult conditions. Bowles looked in fine form as he negotiated the variable bounce and gave the ‘Berko’ bowlers some tap, looking especially strong off of the back foot. Together with the majestic Fulk, Bowles helped the score from 85 to 170 in 13 overs before falling for a magnificent 69.

Fulk carried on scoring unfazed in his increasingly typical manner, and along with Michael Robertson added yet more to the Reed total. The last two overs saw 26 runs scored by Reed, with Fulk ending the day on 50 (not out) meaning he has scored 350 runs in his last 5 innings, all of which have been not out. Robertson too batted with class and power, finishing 12 (not out) with some vital and big boundary shots. Reed looked to have scored a commanding 196 for 3 off of their allotted 45 overs.

In reply Berkhamsted got off to a decent start, with the hard hitting Crispin looking to get off to a flying start. Good bowling however from Archer and youngster Harry Picton-Turbivell prevented this. Picton-Turbivell bowled superbly, with tremendous pace and bounce. Archer also bowled very well, and was rewarded with the wicket of Crispin. Rupert Martin then weighed in with the wicket of Crispin’s fellow opener Smith to leave Berkhamsted 62 for 2, and well behind the required run rate. When Richard Robertson had Hardy caught behind with the score on 93 and Berkhamsted needing 8 an over, Reed looked in a strong position. However Brown then bludgeoned his team back into contention, despite the wicket of Sherjan thanks to Picton-Turbivell’s great bowling.

Brown’s 66 run partnership with the equally big hitting Knight proved to be key for Berkhamsted as they moved towards the victory target.Robertson did eventually snare the wicket of Brown for 62, but it was too little too late for Reed, as Knight (36 not out) took Berkhamsted home with 6 balls to spare.

Despite the defeat, Reed collected 13 points, and were left pleased with their efforts against table topping Berkhamsted.