2012 National Village Cup Winners Reed moved a step closer to a repeat visit to a Lords Final with a 29 run away victory over Suffolk Area Champions Worlington on Sunday.
Reed had been hoping for a local derby against Royston area rivals Foxton, but Foxton failed to overcome Worlington in the previous round.
Having lost the toss after a wet night, Reed were asked to bat by their hosts and in tricky, damp early afternoon conditions. Batting was far from easy for the first few overs with moisture still in the wicket. Reed lost Will Heslam early with the score on 10 but then Skipper James Heslam and Tom Greaves settled the innings down and seemed destined to establish a large partnership before Greaves fell LBW for 21. Stuart Smith then joined his Captain and the pair accelerated the Reed scoring rate taking the score past the 100 mark in the 19th over before Heslam misjudged a pull and was caught out for 45. The in-form Sean Tidey then came to the crease and played a series of powerful shots that accelerated the Reed scoring rate even further. Smith had batted with authority but at 143–4 fell caught for 37. Marcus Martin registered just 7 but then Jack Tidey joined brother Sean and the pair set about a violent and effective partnership of 46. Jack perished caught for 26 off 17 balls b ut Sean, who had by now passed his 50, established another fast scoring partnership with left handed Kallum Ward. The straight fielders on the short Worlington boundary could only stand and stare as ball after ball was struck towards them, or over them! Sean Tidey went for 64 with the Reed score now on 263-7 from 37 overs but Ward continued the mayhem before falling for 41 scored from 20 balls. Mitchell Cooper struck a further lusty 19 before the Reed innings closed on a mammoth 292 – 9 from their allotted 40 Overs.
The wicket had undoubtedly got easier for batting as the Reed innings had progressed and defending the total against the powerful Worlington batting line up was to be no forgone conclusion. Sure enough the heroes of the last round Chris Baugh and Richard Ford got the home team off to a solid and effective start. At 60-0 after 10 Overs the pair had established a firm foundation for a solid reply. However, within 4 overs both had been dismissed for 34 and 27 respectively, both caught off the bowling of the ever-threatening Jack Tidey. Tidey struck again removing No3 Watson for 16 and with Worlington 82-3 after 16 overs Reed were back in control as Tidey bowled out his overs returning 9 Overs 3-39. Tom Greaves had also put a brake on the earlier scoring rate as he bowled his 9 Overs for just 38 runs. However, the Worlington side came back fighting and took the attack to the remaining Reed bowlers led by Ford who registered 50. This aggression coincided with a rare lapse in the usual ly exemplary Reed fielding. 5 catches went down but amongst the carnage skipper James Heslam stood defiant, leading by example and taking 3 excellent catches when most needed. Good Reed ground fielding also saw 2 run outs and Worlington seemed down and out at 200 – 6 after 33 Overs. A final onslaught led by Gallop 49 saw them get rather closer to the huge Reed score than had seemed likely. However, when Will Heslam caught Gallop in the deep at 245-8 the Worlington challenge was spent. The home side registered 263-9 in their full 40 Overs with Twiddy striking a late 25 not out. Several of the Reed bowlers had sorry looking figures going for an average 8 runs an over but Reed had done enough and ended winners of a fine high scoring match by 29 runs.
Reed now play the South of England Area Winners at home at Reed in their last 8 match on Sunday 20th July. 2 more wins will see a return visit to a Lords Final!
