A match that could have been won by either side was finally won by Reed by 3 wickets with 8 over to spare. Host Sandridge won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. They got off to a steady start on a wicket with variable bounce. It took an excellent diving catch from William Heslam off the bowling of Chris Peckett to make the first break through. Peckett was the pick of the opening bowlers and he want on to take 3-34 in his 18 over spell. Once a wicket fell they seemed to come in batches and this was a theme of the whole match. Julian Fynn replaced out of touch Kallum Ward and produced an excellent spell of bowling. He removed the aggressive Mannyfield for 23 and then had Norman’s middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground for a duck. Unfortunately he couldn’t complete the hattrick. Fynn finished with 2-46.
Keiran Wheeler replaced Fynn and produced some excellent flight and gyle, turning the ball square at time. He removed the dangerous Peters who was looking take the game away from Reed. Wheeler was helped by some fine outfielding with some good catches being taken. Sandridge put on some valuable runs on at the death, but were finally dismissed for 176 with Reed gaining an extra over to chase the total.
Baz Curtis and William Heslam opened for Reed. Young Heslam went to the spin of Peters for 1. Matt Bowles joined Curtis and both were cautious against the spin of Peters and accurate seam bowling of Murphy. They rotated the strike well and picked up boundaries where they could. Bowles looked in good touch until he was caught and bowled by Murphy for 11. That was 29-2 from 9 overs. Unfortunately like the 1st innings 1 really did bring 2 and Richard Johnson departed the next ball, 29-3. Roddi Liebenberg joined Curtis and again played the anchor roll. By now Curtis was beginning to feel more at home and started to take the attack to the Sandridge bowlers. Reed were getting well ahead of the run rate and reached 95-3 off 24 overs when drinks came. By now Sandridge had taken the new ball and despite Curtis hitting for a big six it still had enough in it to remove Liebenberg. His 11 off 13 overs really doesn’t tell the tale of this valuable knock.
Murphy then removed Julian Fynn first ball to be on his second hattrick of the day, the third of the match. Like the others he failed, but Reed now needed 82 to win 5 down. Curtis was still in full flow and hit Ponting for another big six, but on 78 went for one too many and was bowled for 78. 109-6 and it was anyones game. Marcus Baker and Kallum Ward started slowly to rebuild and once they felt in played there shots. Ward was caught on the boundary for 13. Reed still needed 37 to win, but had 13 over to get them. Baker decided enough was enough and when Murphy returned to try and clinch victory for the home side, smashed him for 14 in over. Wheeler also decided to join in and played some delightful shots as the pair put the winning 37 run partnership to cement a 3 wicket win.
The games was played in a tremendous spirit and the game was on a knife edge right until the end.
