Hemel Hempstead II

Playing away at Hemel Hempstead skipper James Heslam won the toss and invited Hemel to bat first on a damp wicket and slow outfield.

Hemel made steady if slow progress and after almost 30 overs had progressed to only 88 for no wicket in the face of tight bowling from Lee Johnson 14 Overs 0 – 33, Jack Tidey 7 Overs 0 – 15 and Mitchell Cooper 7 Overs 0 – 25. The usual tight Reed fielding put the brakes on the Hemel batsmen and the pressure told, and the game changed materially, with the introduction of the Reed spin twins Will Dobson and Tom Greaves. 88 for 0 Wkt became 120 for 6 as Dobson dismissed both openers, Morgan for 53 and Berry for 43. Elbourn went for 13 and then the procession really started with the next 7 batsmen failing to raise double figures. Dobson returned 5 for 34 from his 12 overs and Greaves 4 – 32 from 13 overs. Hemel slumped to only 144 for 9 from their maximum 53 overs as Reed restricted their opportunities to accelerate.

In reply Reed opened their innings with brothers James and William Heslam, both products of Reeds prolific Colts Cricket Academy. In fact 8 of the Reed team were former Colts at the Club. The Heslam brothers played solid assured Cricket whilst also scoring at a healthy rate of over 4 an over. The pair took the Reed score to 73 before skipper James fell caught for a typically sound and robust 43. 17 year old William, in his first year as a regular in the Reed 1st Xl, continued to accumulate runs with a display of elegant strokeplay. Will Dobson came and went for 7 but when Stuart Smith joined Heslam the sparks really began to fly. Smith struck 9 fours including 6 successive boundaries in his sparkling innings of 42 not out accumulated in only 27 balls. With 6 needed to win Heslam tried to finish the match in style with a maximum but mistimed his intended drive and perished caught for a mature and confident 48. Smith and Greaves saw Reed to the required total of 145 for the lo ss of only 3 wickets and a resounding Reed win.