Reed Fourth XI are still to get out of first gear this season having the weather disrupt their fixtures and inconsistent availability preventing a settled team. Hence, under the temporary guardianship of acting skipper, Peter Baker, the 4ths had no less than 6 players making their Herts League debuts. Having been inserted, Reed could not recover from being 3 wickets down with only 1 run on the board.
Josh Conley, (10), and Cemal Ramadan, (7), stayed a while, but 16 for 5 became 29 for 9 within 13 overs as the young Datchworth bowlers Atkinson, (5), Murphy, (2), and Finn, (2), were unrelenting in their attack. Debutants, Jack Childs and Sam Rice who are both from the Reed Under 15 team, batted at numbers 10 and 11 and between them added a very useful partnership 24 runs with Rice top-scoring with 17 before being run-out and Reed ending on 53 all-out.
Childs then performed in his bowling role and returned an impressive 2 for 12 from 6 overs. Josh Conley was accurate and economical with 1 for 18 from 9 overs. Batting was not easy and Datchworth, expecting to knock-off the low target quickly, soon found that conditions and tight bowling meant that they too lost wickets frequently. Reed’s fielding and catching was attacking and highlighted by the diving / rolling catch at point of Mehmet Ramadan showing-off the silky athletic pedigree passed-on to son, Cemal.
In fact it was Cemal who was then introduced into the bowling attack who recorded the most impressive figures of 3 for 12. It was not enough though, and Datchworth struggled through to win with 6 wickets down. Reed IV 6 points; Datchworth III 30 points.
