Reed visited St. Margaretsbury last Saturday and promenaded another strong side. Baz Curtis won the toss and had no hesitation to bat even though the wicket looked a tad green. Reed lost both openers quickly and only had 18 on the board. Richard Johnson and the effective Stuart Smith got Reed back on track with some attacking strokes. With a short boundary on one side and a quick outfield runs came at a lively pace. Johnson was bowled for an excellent 39 by the consistent Bentley. Marcus Martin joined Smith and with some much better running than in recent games continue to pile on the runs.
The score had reached 156 when Smith fell for 58. He was Bentley’s 3rd wicket in a marathon spell of 23 overs. A fine effort in the heat. When Martin was bowled for 40, Reed were 175-5 with 13 overs left. It was obvious that Reed would need as many overs as possible to get a result, but would also need to post a challenging total for the home side. Roddi Liebenberg and Will Clarke set about this task with aplomb. With some good running and some attacking shots they motored along. The pair put on 65 in 9 overs. Clarke hitting well down the ground and over the top of the infield and Liebenberg timing the ball nicely and also hitting the innings only 6. Curtis decided to declare with 240-5 on the board. This gave the home side 51 over to get 241.
Reed knew early wickets would put St. Margaretsbury on the back foot, equally a good start from the batting side might make the declaration generous. Despite Will Clarke removing Pedder for 14, Reed were not bowling well and boundaries we coming far too quickly. Evergreen Peter Tidey replaced Peckett and despite also being hit to the boundary produced a boomerang of a delivery to remove Read for 15. The home side were now 57-2 and well up with the rate.
A fine stand of 68 from Barbett and Parker got St. Margaretsbury to 129. They never looked in trouble and had set a good platform for a charge later in the innings. Tidey had changed to the pavilion end and managed to get a ball past Berbett’s defences and he went LBW for 30. Skipper Griffiths came in and decided the short boundary was too much of a temptation. He tried to sweep Tidey, got a top edge, the ball hit his helmet and looped to Clarke for a simple catch. Suddenly it was 129-4 and Reed had a sniff. Marcus Martin struck 11 runs later beating Richards in the flight. St. Margaretsbury were now falling behind the rate. Richard Johnson came on and had Parker caught behind for an excellent 75. At 188-6 with 10 over left the only question was could Reed force a victory. Fergus Martin the other half of the spin twins take a sharp caught and bowled with 4 overs left. Curtis dropped Bentley at slip and that was the last chance Reed had to get anymore points. St. Margaretsbury ended 199-7 just 1 run short of maximum batting points.
An excellent game all round. Peter Tidey was the pick of the Reed bowlers taking 3-43 from 21 overs.
