Reed won the toss and decided to put Royston into bat. This looked
a good decision as Reed’s opening bowlers took full advantage of the
conditions. Richard Robertson quickly picked up 2 wickets and with
Ian Roberts removing Royston’s skipper Mack for 9, Royston looked in
big trouble at 15-3. Duncan Warner was the mainstay of the Royston
innings. He scored 72 before being well caught by Clarke in the dying
overs. William Clarke and Scott Rouse both picked up a wicket each
before Robertson and Roberts returned to try and keep things tight at
the death. Both picked up further wickets. Royston posted 163 when
the over ran out.
Reed lost the early wicket of James Heslam with the score on just
4 in reply. This brought John Heslam to the crease. He and Baz Curtis
had moved the score on to 50 when Curtis was out for 26. Reed looked
in a good position to take control, but 3 wickets were lost for just
24 runs. and Reed were 74-5. Even Reed’s most loyal fans were leaving
now and they could sense Reed’s demise. Jason Nolan and William
Clarke looked to be repairing the damage, but Royston seemed to get
wickets just a the right time. Nolan was caught and bowled for 21.
Richard Robertson hit a swift 20 before being stumped and when
William Clarke was caught for 15 Reed still need 30 from 5 overs.
Unfortunately they could only score 16 and were left on 148-9 when
time ran out on them.
