Reed won the toss on another hot day and decided to bat. For once
the first four got a start and built a great foundation for a big
total. Baz Curtis and Paul Watts put on 80 for the first wicket
before Curtis was caught in the deep for 51. This brought Chris
Jackson to the wicket. After a poor run with the bat in recent weeks
Jackson started slowly, but soon got into his stride. He and Watts
were moving along nicely before Watts was also caught for a fine 41.
Trevor Saunders was moved up the order to give the innings some
impetuous. It didn’t take long before the boundaries started to flow.
He hit an aggressive 32 before he was also caught. It was the same
fate for Jackson when he had reached 57. His brother Simon moved the
ball around well and with some good running with his partner Michael
Berks they saw Reed to a challenging 229-6. Reed gambled and gave the
visitors 2 extra overs to reach the 230 they needed.
Reed knew Hatfield Hyde could chase almost anything if they got
going and so early wickets were vital. Michael Berks struck with just
his 4th delivery. William Clarke also struck early to leave the
visitors 12-2. This brought in the danger man Rasput. He never seems
to fail to get runs against Reed and at an electrifying speed. Chris
Jackson replaced Berks and Ian Roberts replaced Clarke. Rasput was at
it again quickly reaching 15 when Jackson managed to get one to turn
and beat the bat. Keeper Stuart Smith had the bails off in a flash
and the game had literally turned Reed’s way. Roberts and Jackson
quickly got in to a groove and returned amazing figures. Roberts
bowled 12 overs, 10 maidens, 3 for 8, while Jackson also took 3 for 8
in 8 overs. Jackson was even on a hat trick. It was now a matter of
if Reed could get the wickets by the overs ran out. They had 9 overs
to get two wickets. Griffin was proving to be very stubborn and
Irving was defending well. Richard Robertson took over from Roberts
and bowled Irving. Reed had tried Clarke and Berks from the top end
before Trevor Saunders managed to tempt Griffin into a false shot and
Simon Jackson took the catch to seal a 112 run victory.
