Reed IIs won comprehensively at 3rd placed Northampton Exiles to close in on the top 3 of Saracens Herts League Division 4B.
On a drizzly but humid afternoon in North London, stand-in Reed skipper Karl Ward lost the toss and his side were surprisingly put into the field. His bowlers soon made the home team pay as Julien Fynn (11-2-29-4) and Ward himself (11-5-15-1) reduced the home side to 32-5. A difficult batting track was exploited especially well by Fynn, whose pace and bounce caused Exiles no end of difficulty. A couple of stubborn middle order partnerships gave the batting side some hope, but Ed Garrott (11-2-2-2) and Peter Tidey (5.2-3-10-3) eventually made the key breakthroughs and ran through the tail, leaving Reed chasing just 96 to win.
In reply, Richard Johnson and Richard Barlow (12) saw off the new ball and began to edge Reed towards the winning score. However, when Barlow was then caught in the gully the home side sensed an opening. Matt Sampson joined Johnson and steadied the Reed nerves, playing some excellent shots which belied the variable bounce seen throughout the day. The pair played authoritatively, mixing solid defence with excellent stroke play to take Reed home comfortably, reaching the required score for the loss of only one wicket. Reed took the full 30 points with Sampson 44 Not Out and Johnson 40 Not out.
Report submitted by Matt Bowles.
