Bank Holiday Monday saw Reed return to competitive action away against a very strong Harpenden side, boasting 5 Hertfordshire County players. Reed went into the Herts 20/20 cup clash as massive underdogs but won the toss and elected to bowl first. Skipper Tom Greaves opened the bowling with Jack Tidey. The spin and pace combination soon paid dividends as Greaves took the wicket of Will Jones, bowled with lovely flighted delivery. Tom Walsingham and Will Stock soon came into the Reed attack and both bowled a good, nagging length which made it tricky to score, forcing loose strokes from the Harpenden middle order. Stock (4-0-14-1) was particularly impressive on his competitive debut in a Reed shirt. He was rewarded with the wicket of Cooper who was bowled all ends up. Dan Blacktopp, fresh from his 40 not out for Hertfordshire against Cambridgeshire on Sunday was the only Harpenden batsmen to reach more than 10 with his agricultural style of play proving rather effective on a slow wicket. When he departed for 37, it was the beginning of the end for Harpenden. Walsingham (3-0-19-3), Mitchell Cooper (3-0-15-1) and Jack Tidey (3-0-17-2) ran through the middle and lower order, including an athletic caught behind by the evergreen ‘keeper Tim Tidey; clinching the opportunity to show his credentials for the first eleven keeping spot for the season. Another debutant, Aiden Woodcock (0.5-0-3-1) took the final wicket as Reed bowled Harpenden all out inside 18 overs. The bowling and ground fielding was of the highest quality, emulating their performance at Goatacre in the National Village Cup Semi Final in 2012 – and we all know what happened after that. With a low score to chase, Reed knew that they had plenty of time to build their innings.
Richard Wharton and Mitchell Cooper opened the innings and both looked in fine fettle, finding the boundary on 3 occasions each. With the score in 46, Wharton went for one shot too many and fell for a classy 22. Cooper soon followed losing his wicket to Nick Lamb for 23. Two more quick wickets fell and Harpenden could sniff a way back into the game with Herts bowler Will Jones (3-22) getting his tail up. Enter 16 year old Rob Lankester…
Striding to the crease to a barrage of chat from the Harpenden fielders, Reed still required 25 to win on a tough track. Tom Greaves and Lankester took Reed close to the finish line before Greaves fell for 11, bowled. Jack Tidey joined Lankester and the pair worked towards the victory target knowing that they had time on their side. Lankester took the lead and steered Reed to reposition of 3 to win with a lofted on drive. Tidey (6 not out) took a single on the first ball of the 19th over to give Lankester the strike back. Faced with the shout “I bet you couldn’t do that again”, Lankester (14 not out) strode down the track and delicately chipped the ball over the top for 2 and see Reed to victory. The smile on Lankester’s face as he ran past the fielder for the second run was worth a thousand words and typified the class of the young batsman. Reed ran out winner by 5 wickets and finished the game to the news that they would be facing Old Owens in the 2nd round of the Davidstow National Village Cup after big spending Botany Bay were unable to raise a team, thus conceding the game.
