The make-up of the personnel in both teams was very similar. A few veterans intermingled with young, upcoming colts experiencing their first forays into the longer formats of the game. Respective skippers of the home side, Wheathampstead’s Andy Alexander, and visitors, Reed’s Peter Baker, ensured all their players were involved and given opportunities to contribute. On a wet pitch after morning drizzle, Baker won the toss and decided to bat first as he opened with the returning Reece Fitzgerald.
The pacey left-armer, George Jarvis, nipped-out Baker for 10 when the partnership had reached 23, the first of his four wickets, soon followed by his second the very next ball. Reed’s third wicket went two overs later and their fourth 4 balls after that leaving them floundering at 44 for 4. At last, Fitzgerald found a partner who stuck with him as he and Lloyd Bowman almost doubled the score.
The young opener passed his personal half-century out of Reed’s 77 then when the score had reached 87, Bowman was bowled for an entertaining 18. Three more batsmen fell for “ducks” immediately after that then Fitzgerald farmed the strike whilst batting with Chris West. Sensible shot selection brought the total up to 122 when Fitzgerald was the ninth batsman out when he finally fell for an absolutely masterful 81 containing eleven classy 4s and two 6s. Joe Graves and West battled-on for a short while boosting Reed’s score to 135 all-out which at least provided a total that could be defended if things went well.
With 65 overs in which to knock-off the required runs, Wheathampstead’s openers set-off sedately, but once Graves and Zac Conley set the tone with accurate bowling, Wheathampstead went on the slide and were at one time 26 for 4 off 15 overs. Matt Yates was first change and took a wicket in his first over and continued to find a testing good length just outside off stump. Off-spinning all-rounder Reece Fitzgerald, (2 for 29), replaced Graves and bowled mostly in tandem with Graham Stuart, (1 for 16 from 11 overs), as both slow bowlers restricted scoring shots.
Some excellent ground fielding and sharp catches, particularly two by Baker in the gulley, supported the bowling and it was only when skipper, Alexander, (20), and Jarvis, (14), batted together for the 7th wicket did Wheathampstead threaten to take the game away. A few boundary shots might have altered Baker’s field settings and force changes in the bowling, but fortunately both perished and at 94 for 8, the chase seemed to be over. Graves, (3 for 14), Conley, (2 for 13), and Yates, (2 for 14), all returned for second spells and eventually the last wicket fell in the fiftieth over when the score had reached 105 leaving Reed victorious for the first time in this campaign by 31 runs.
Reed (30 points) beat Wheathampstead (10 points) by 31 runs.
