Reed bowled out Langleybury for a paltry 98 on a lively wicket, despite the heavy rain during the week. On only the second ball Richard Wharton stumped the Langleybury opener standing well back to his brother, Ed! This was a prelude to a collapse as the hosts slumped to 28-5 with Wharton taking two more, Mitchell Cooper and Toby Fynn claiming the other two. Only Rhys Williams with 29 not out staved off a rout, but the returning Wharton (10-4-22-4) and Fynn (8-1-30-4) polished off the tail.
A slow, but steady response from Reed’s openers laid the platform for a comfortable chase and an unbeaten second wicket partnership of 71 by Richard Wharton (57 not out) and Rob Lankester (23 not out) sealed the victory in 22 overs. Khalid Manzoor’s 1-17 from 8 overs was all that held up Reed’s batsmen, who accelerated well towards the end of the innings. It was Reed’s fourth win in five of the 50 over encounters that began the league season. Next weekend they face Hoddesdon in the Herts League on Saturday then, on Sunday, Long Marston in the Regional Final of the National Village Cup.
Report submitted by Peter Wholley.
