Fine knock by “Wembley Will” ends in a draw!

Reed scrambled a draw against Hoddesdon in an exciting game, which went down to the wire.

An excellent partnership of 187 between South African Neels Bergh (92) and Todd Sturdy (113) formed the backbone of the visitors’ 262-9, after Ed Wharton had taken two wickets in the first over. When Sean Tidey and Tom Greaves had accounted for the top scorers, Wharton roared back to finish with 14-2-62-6.

A century stand between William Heslam and Chris Jackson (41) gave Reed a chance of winning, but when Richard Wharton (28) was run out and Heslam stumped for a fine knock of 95, the lower order were forced to go hard. As a result several perished to brilliant catches in the deep. Bergh (19-2-68-5) was again the danger man with his leg-spin.

Hoddesdon squeezed 20 overs into the last hour in a desperate effort to winkle out their hosts, but Mitchell Cooper calmly played out time, leaving Reed on 226-9.

Report submitted by Peter Wholley.