Reed won the toss and decided to bat against old rivals Preston.
Reed made a steady, but lost wickets regularly. Curtis made 26 and
Peart 20, but the main impetuous came from Simon Roberts with a fine
34, before he was unlucky to be given out for LBW by umpire Cittcat.
Reed were 115-6 at the point and some rebuilding was required. It
came in the form of Trevor Saunders. He was last man out in the final
over for a splendid 49. Reed post Preston 180 to win.
Reed were handicapped by fielding with only 10 men. Wicketkeeper
Chris Bovington pulled a groin muscle while batting and was unable to
take the field. Reed’s fielders backed up the bowlers well, but the
extra man would have been vital. Ian Roberts pulled a superb spell of
swing bowling, taking 4-47 in 13 overs. Peter Tidey was economical as
usual, but Reed really needed early wickets. Reed had Preston 115-5
when Richard Robertson had Hucler well caught by Saunders, but after
that the Preston batsmen pushed the ball around for a comfortable 5
wicket win with 4 overs to go.
