Reed progressed to the national stages of the National Village Cup by beating North Mymms by 8 wickets in the Regional Final on Sunday. Skipper James Heslam lost the toss and found him and his bowlers being asked to take the new ball. Lee Johnson (1-35) and Jack Tidey (1-30) opened up for Reed and instantly made use of the new ball by injecting some bounce out of the pitch. North Mymms openers Wynne and Clemants batted sensibly and moved the ball around well, picking up singles along with some nice cricket shots.
It was Johnson who got the first wicket fro Reed, beating Wynne for pace and bounce and Sean Tidey taking the catch behind the stumps. Saxeby was next to follow, leaving North Mymms on 60-2. Carter and Clemants then took it upon themselves to rebuild the innings, putting on 61 for the third wicket. The introduction of the in form Chris Peckett (5-31) however saw the end of Clemants, and this followed by a flurry of wickets within the middle order, leaving the lower order to pick up singles in the aim to build a defendable total. On the final delivery of the innings, Peckett trapped Davies LBW to top a fine bowling display by Reed.
In reply Reed got off ot the worst possible start losing Heslam first ball of the innings and Tom Greaves in the 2nd over. At 5-2, the tails of the North Mymms players were up sensing a victory. However Chris Jackson and Stuart Smith had other ideas. The pair saw off the new ball, and patiently moved the ball around the park looking to rebuild the innings and build a platform to win the game. Smith reached his fifty first, converting a fine display of solid defence with some lustier blows, frustrating the North Mymms bowlers in the progress.
Jackson followed Smith to his half century and by the now the game was firmly in the hands of the Reed pair. Smith finished off the total with 5 overs remaining with a large six to take him to an unbeaten 87, with Jackson likewise on 55. The pair put on 159 for third wicket and Reed progressed to the last 32 of the competition in doing so. Reed’s next venture in the competition is this Sunday away at Sussex based Rottingdean Cricket Club, where the club will be hoping to progress to the last 16.
