Reed 2s suffered their first setback of the season on Saturday after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory away to Shenley Village 2s.
On a blissful day and in the glorious surrounds of the Shenley Cricket Centre, Reed’s stand-in skipper Phil Frenay elected to put the hosts into bat on what looked a belting deck. Reed’s opened the bowling with Peter Tidey and ‘Mr Wicket’ Karl Ward, both coming of the back of 5 wicket hauls. Tight bowling and good fielding meant the Shenley score crept along slowly as Reed picked up regular wickets.
Tidey (24-11-53-3) and Ward (17-3-61-2) bowled marathon spells, and were well supported towards the end of the Shenley innings by Tumala (6-0-29-1) and the returning Tom Walsingham (7-1-33-0). Captain Paul (69 not out) however fought hard for Shenley and as they ended their 53 overs on what appeared a slightly below par score of 187-6.
Frenay and Tumala opened the batting for Reed and got off to a flyer in pursuit of the target. 15 runs came off of the first over, and Tumala in particular was taking a liking to the home sides pace attack. He raced to 30 before being caught at square leg, as Frenay began to show glimpses of his imperious form from last season. Marcus J.E. Baker joined Frenay in the middle and also got into the swing of things with some very powerful hitting as Reed reached 125-1 at drinks.
Frenay got to his half century and looked increasingly assured but the introduction of spin from both ends soon flipped the game on its head. Firstly Frenay (56) was stumped, before a shocking succession of poor shots from the experienced Reed middle order left the home side sensing blood. With their tails up and 35 runs still to get, the Shenley bowlers then made short work of the now exposed Reed tail end. Baker did his utmost to halt the Reed collapse as he reached a very well-made 50; however when he too holed out the writing appeared to be on the wall as Reed stared down the barrel at 155-9.
However this was not the end of the drama as Peter Tidey and Tom Walsingham came together as the last pair and slowly and steadily chipped away at the remaining 32 runs. The pair batted sensibly and with overs on their side, brought the target down to within 3 runs of victory to put Reed back in the hot seat. Incredibly though, there was one last twist as Walsingham’s well struck drive was clung on to by the back peddling mid-off to the joy of the home side and the despair of Reed.
