Reed 4s hosted Hatfield Hyde 3s on one of the few sunny days of the year. The match looked in doubt the night before when there were puddles on the wicket, however the pitch dried out and played well throughout.
Captain Rob Willoughby won the toss and decided to put the visitors into bat on the drying wicket. An extreme of ages opened the bowling with Jack Childs (6-23-1) and Ian Roberts (11-11-1), both bowling tight lines restricting the run rate. At one point Roberts was bowling so well that he merited 3 slips and a gully! Michael Robertson (11-39-1) came on after Childs returning after an extended absence of living in Japan and having operations. M Robertson built up pace causing the batsmen difficulties.
At the other end Kieren Willoughby (7-26-1) also returning from an operation, bowled spin with particularly deceptive flight. K Willoughby removed the most dangerous visiting batsmen thanks to a superb diving catch from Lloyd Bowmen, after several attempts. Eventually skipper R Willoughby (6-11-4) brought himself on to finish the innings, thanks to catches from brother K Willoughby and two stunning catches from Richard Robertson. He was supported by Graham Stuart (2-14-0), who bowled for the first time in 22 years, and whose wife Nicky did a superb tea, and may be asked back to do it again! The visitors finished on 143 all out of 45 overs.
After tea Reed felt confident of the run chase but knew that they needed to concentrate. After an early scare when losing R Robertson for 0, other opener Roberts carried his bat for an unbeaten 49, very well supported by M Robertson scoring 84. Both Roberts and M Robertson hit the ball to all parts of the ground taking apart any bowling they faced, which included numerous 6s. M Robertson was eventually bowled allowing K Willoughby (1) to come in and see things off with Roberts. Reed saw off the total in only 14 overs.
This was another fantastic win from the 4s, and is there fourth on the bounce given that there last two games were called off for bad weather. There is now a nice balance of youth and experience in the team with the younger players gaining valuable experience and learning the old tricks of the trade.
