Reed III’s struggles continued after slipping to a narrow defeat to Great Gaddesden. After the previous day’s monsoon, Reed captain Mike Robertson had little hesitation in inserting the visitors upon winning the toss.
Gaddesden got off to a solid start despite an early wicket for Joe Graves (6-0-43-1). However, despite the accurate bowling of Aiden Woodcock (15-2-45-2) it was not until the introduction of Will Stock that Reed managed to make another breakthrough. Stock bowled two good spells as he finished with figures of (11-3-41-5). Woodcock eventually got his rewards for his accuracy as he picked up two wickets. Owen Hughes (6-0-46-1) and Jason Pallett (8-0-26-0) attempted to stem the flow but good middle order runs saw Great Gaddesden advance beyond the 200 mark. Skipper Robertson (7-1-25-1) bowled well at the death to limit the damage but a score of 222-9 from the allotted 53 overs was at least par.
Reed’s response got off to a very good start as Rhodri Hughes (32) and veteran Peter Baker put on 86 for the opening wicket, before Hughes departed after being caught. When Ben Bowles followed soon after for 1, Reed looked to be wobbling. However Baker (62) and Stock steadied the ship and Stock in particular began to up the run rate. After Baker departed, Mike Robertson was promoted up the order to boost the run rate yet further as he and Stock put the hosts into a seemingly winning position as they approached 200.
However disaster was looming as both Stock (67) and Robertson (17) departed in consecutive balls. Things only got worse when the in-form Matt Bowles was run out for 2. This sparked a woeful collapse as the inexperienced Reed tail succumbed to the pressure to be all out for 197. Rarely has defeat been snatched from the jaws of victory so spectacularly.
Report by Matt Bowles
