Reed won the toss and decided to bowl against the unknown St.
Thomas’s Park. It wasn’t long before Reed got to know there opener
Hanna. He took a special liking to Reed’s opening bowler Neil Haslam.
Haslam was dispatched for 34 from just 5 overs. Hanna took advantage
of the short straight boundaries and continued to pepper them until
he was finally dismissed by Peter Costen for 128. He was the third
man out with 206 on the board. Phil Diver had taken the first 2
wickets. He looked to have brought Reed back into it taking 2 wickets
in his first 3 balls. After Hanna was dismissed Reed began to claw
there way back in to the game and slowed the run rate. Wicket keeper
Stuart Smith took his first catch for the first team. Costen and
Divers both picked up 2 further wickets each. Costen finished with
3-62 in 15 overs and Divers 4-64 in 13 overs. St. Thomas’s Park
posted a challenging 251-7 declared.
Reed’s main aim was to keep wickets in hand for the run chase later. Baz Curtis and Richard Tufton opened the batting for Reed. They put on 83 for the first wicket before Tufton was dismissed for 5. He was replaced by Mark Peart. He and Curtis put on 109 for the second wicket and put Reed in total control. Peart hit 5 4s in his 34 before being adjusted LBW. Curtis was now in full flow. He smashed 19 4s and 8 6s on his way to a personal best of 178. He was the 4th man out with the score on 236. Reed needed just 16 to win and had 6 overs in which to get the runs. Suddenly wickets bagan to tumble and going into the last over Reed needed 3 to win and 3 wickets in had. Skipper Simon Roberts kept his head and along with Stuart Smith saw Reed home with 2 balls to spare. Roberts was left 9 not out and Smith on 2. Reed won by 3 wickets.
