In a tight match at the top of the table, Hoddesdon won by 4 wickets with just 4 overs left.
On a slow wicket, affected by the previous week’s deluge, only seven batsmen reached double figures. Therefore Ed Wharton’s quickfire 35 was remarkable. However Reed collapsed to 64-5 and went 26 overs without a boundary. Richard Wharton’s dogged 19 from 81 balls kept them in the match and Sean Tidey hit 33 to help the home side to 143 against some fine bowling, two of them conceding only 11 runs from their ten overs.
In truth, Hoddesdon found the going just as tough. Ed Wharton (2-31) took two quick wickets, but a gritty stand of 62 between South African Jadyn Broodryk (29) and Sam Davis seemed to have won the game. Skipper, Tom Greaves (2-31), Sean Tidey (2-30) had other ideas and reduced Hoddesdon to 100-6. Nevertheless, Todd Sturdy (24 not out) and Davis ( 56 not out) ground out a partnership of 47 to secure the victory, although the latter survived a chance on the boundary to deny Reed their top position in the league.
Report submitted by Peter Wholley.
