Reed skipper Maseeh Naeem won the toss and elected to field on the Freman College pitch, known to be batsman-friendly.
Michael Robertson and Matt Giblin opened the bowling. The latter went for 14 off his first over, but quickly found his rhythm and bowled some economical lines, beating the bat on several occasions but with no reward.
It was Robertson who did the damage to Langleybury’s innings, after picking up the wickets of both openers, he went on to claim 5 wickets, ending with impressive figures of 14-4-52-5.
Julian Fynn replaced Giblin, and also impressed. He picked up 3 wickets off his 10 over spell.
Ian Roberts picked up the remaining wicket, continuing to impress as a reliable wicket taker for the 3rd team this season.
Langleybury were reduced to 138/9, and it seemed Reed would have a fairly low score to chase. However a last wicket stand of 67 frustrated Reed’s bowlers. Even the injured first-teamer, Kallum Ward was unable to take the final wicket. Langleybury finished on 203/9, a much higher total than anticipated.
In reply, Reed opened the batting with the in-form Richard Barlow, and Matt Bowles. Both batted well, putting on 34 off the first 7 overs for the first wicket. Bowles was out caught for 15, having made a solid start to his innings. Richard Johnson came in at number 3, and batted well for his 18. Kallum Ward came in at 4, and played his usual aggressive game, hitting a quick 21 before getting caught on the boundary.
Richard Barlow continued to play a solid innings, hitting multiple boundaries but lost his wicket one run short of his 50.
The next two wickets fell cheaply, leaving Reed at 123/5 with Captain Naeem, and his son Matthew at the crease. Maseeh Naeem played an aggressive innings including two huge sixes over long on, to take Reed closer to their target. Naeem fell for 31, and two more wickets fell, leaving Reed on 167/8, requiring a further 37 runs for victory.
Reece Fitsgerald was at the crease, and joined by Giblin, having been promoted to number 10 in hope of rescuing the innings. Fitzgerald faced the majority of the strike, and Langleybury bought their opening bowlers back on. A ninth wicket stand of 39, with patient batting from both tail enders took Reed to 206/8 for victory.
