This week Reed 4th XI took a break from league fixtures, to play an away 45/45 friendly against a Totteridge Milhillians side, who were scouting the strength of the lower divisions with a view of entering a team into the same league next season. Clear blue skies greeted Reed who won the toss and skipper Bowman opted to bowl first.
With Julien Fynn (7-2-11-0) and Zac Conley (9-0-42-0) opening the bowling, the opposition found it hard to find runs on a large boundary with a slow outfield. However wickets were also difficult to find, and the Totteridge opening partnership of M. Pratt (15) and Bhardia (42) slowly put runs on the board. The first breakthrough came after a change of bowling, with Kieren Willoughby catching a loose shot from Bhardia off Mansfield’s (7-0-49-1) bowling and Reed’s new man Martin Johnson (9-1-32-1) introducing himself to the club bowling tight lines and dismissing M. Pratt.
As the runs ticked over Reed still couldn’t find the wickets, not helped by two regulation catches being dropped by a returning player. More changes of bowling brought on another debutant, Ewan Rees (6-0-20-0), and returning spinner, M.H. Naeem (7-0-40-3). Despite 3 wickets from Naeem and a run-out from some quick fielding by Willoughby, the hosts managed to bat out their 45 overs putting on 224-6.
Following a tea which was supplemented by left-overs from a party next door, openers P. Baker and S. Hoye looked to put together a partnership on which Reed could build upon. Hoye (14) was first to go after 10 overs, run out after looking for a quick single. This was the catalyst for a mini collapse as Baker (18) was bowled, then G. Adams (0) was caught. 3 wickets in 3 balls left Reed at 33-3, and set bowler Bilal up for a hat-trick. However Conley and Willoughby had other ideas as they looked to rebuild the Reed innings. Conley carried on his fine form, and bypassed the problem of a slow outfield by keeping the ball airborne on the way to the boundaries.
Willoughby (17) was next to go after being caught, and then W. Mansfield (10) was bowled, however despite the change in partners Conley (69) had pushed on. He was finally bowled after the opposition brought back on the dangerous opener Bilal. This left Reed chasing the final 61 runs with 4 wickets in hand.
Unfortunately the last Reed batsmen could only muster 20 runs between them, and despite a promising display from M. Johnson (24), Reed finished up 184 all out.
Despite the loss, the match did welcome two new players to the club, both whom showcased their value for the future.
The Fourth’s position at the top of the Division was unaffected because their Points divided by Matches played ratio remained the same. They return to League action again next week in the away fixture versus Hatch End.
Report by Matthew Naeem.
