Steve Hughes gave his best performance to date with a superb and destructive 5 for 23 against Hatfield Hyde. It was just the remedy for a side that in recent weeks had found themselves in a slump. M.J.E. Baker had won the toss and made the right call to bowl first on a track that was misbehaving after the mid-week rain. Playing at The Freman Oval, Joe Graves and Matt Yates had got things started for Reed. Both had catches taken by Ben Moody to put early pressure on the visitors. Owen Hughes also performed well with the ball but went unrewarded.
Sensing that pace off the ball might be the right way to go at that time, Baker had a go at bowling a bit of off spin in tandem with Steve Hughes. The pair took 8 for 53 with the opposition losing their last 5 for 2 runs and Hughes taking his last 4 wickets for 0. Baker bowled 3 for 30, including Watson (53) whilst Hughes bowled 3 and had 2 fantastic catches taken by Graves and Michael Robertson. Hatfield finished on the usually below par score of 122.
Robertson (18) and Paul Garrott (17) made a steady start in response. Hatfield’s talented bowling unit made things hard for the hosts with some tight lines. Both openers made starts but could not carry on. Reed then lost 3 more wickets leaving them 59 for 5. But Baker and Moody were not about to rollover. Sensible batting from both men frustrated the opposition much to their vocal displeasure. The track began to dry out and started to act more like a typical Freman track. Baker (50 not out) and Moody (13 not out) ignored the jibes and chased down the target calmly giving Reed a much needed 5 wicket win.
Report submitted by MJEB.
