On Saturday July 9th Reed 1st XI hosted Stevenage 1st XI in the Herts Saracens League Championship. Stevenage won the toss and asked Reed to bat first. Reed got off to a solid start, with brothers James (45) and William Heslam (117) putting on 105 for the first wicket in 26 overs. Rob Lankester (39) came in at number 3 giving William good support and taking the score to 195 before he fell in the 46th over. A procession of batsmen then came and went trying to up the scoring rate, with R.Hassan taking 6 for 69 with his leg breaks. Tom Greaves then declared after 58.5 overs with the score on 258 for 8.

In reply Stevenage suffered a dreadful start with Ed Wharton and Ian Osborne each taking wickets in the first two overs leaving Stevenage 8 for 2 off 2. However, this brought Hassan (111 not out) to the crease who rebuilt the innings ably supported by Gittens-Brown (62). Tom Greaves bowled a marathon spell of 19 overs 2 maidens, 2 for 59 and kept the Stevenage scoring rate down. But with the fall of Gittens-Brown, Stevenage opted to play for the draw and after 58 overs settled for 217 for 8. Reed picked up the bonus points but were frustrated at being unable to push for the win.

Report submitted by RMR.