Reed III versus Bentley Heath II at Freman College, Buntingford on Saturday 25th May 2019.
On an absolutely prince of a pitch at the notoriously high-scoring Freman Oval, Reed Third XI were back to their blistering best when taking-on Bentley Heath who won the toss and had decided to bat first. The visitors’ century-maker, Luke Peace, enquired what a par score might be as he, and fellow batsmen, Shon Alishah, (50), and Chetan Bakrania, (52), were rattling along at 8 runs an over. The ambiguous answer from the ageing gully fielder was that 300 probably wouldn’t be enough. Despite their quick scoring, Bentley Heath did not have it all their own way and Mike Robertson, in a rare spell of bowling managed to pick-up 3 wickets whilst the more orthodox method employed by Julien Fynn of bowling straight, at pace, and with bounce, accounted for his superb return of 4 for 37. Helped by many wayward sundries, the guests closed on 310 for 9 after their allocation of 45 overs possibly thinking that they had scored enough.
Although the strategy was not necessarily that of losing early wickets in the reply, by both Paul Garrott and PG Baker exiting soon after tea, it allowed more time at the crease for Mike Robertson and George Garrott. That plan worked! Robertson was robust in his driving and pulling as he reached 108 whilst the nimble Garrott, gliding runs behind the wicket and running fast throughout and escorted by Fynn and Maseeh Naeem in particular, brought up his own century and was 106 not out when the winning run came midway through the fortieth over. An enthralling match that will be long held in the memory.
Reed III (30 points) beat Bentley Heath II (16 points) by 4 wickets.
Match Report by PGB.
