On the hottest day of the year so far, Reed 3rd XI hosted second place Rickmansworth III at the Freman Oval. The hosts won the toss and opted to bowl, hoping to avoid the forecast late afternoon heat. Rickmansworth openers Langley (42) and Raz Khan (68) started steadily despite accurate bowling from Owen Hughes (5-1-24-0) and Julien Fynn (9-3-34-1). The pair continued to build on their foundation during the first spell of left-armer Matt Yates (9-0-36-0), however the introduction of Robert Willoughby (9-0-34-4), bowling in tandem with Steve Hughes (9-0-56-0) saw the breakthrough when Langley succumbed to an arm ball from Willoughby. This became the start of Willoughby’s rampage as; next bowling Abbas (1) then snatching a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Adeel Khan (10). The big wicket came when Willoughby trapped Raz Khan lbw, finishing his well crafted innings. Shah (21) and Yousuf (22) looked to up the run rate as the innings headed into the later overs. Both batsmen played aggressively until Shah was caught by Steve Hughes off the bowling of Robertson (4-0-41-1). His replacement, Mohammed (29) continued in the same vein until Fynn bowled Yousuf, and Mohammed was run out by the Reed captain Rhodri Hughes. Butt (5) and Harvey (1) closed out the innings, with Rickmansworth finishing on 231 for 7 from their 45 overs.
Reed’s response began smoothly with openers Paul Garrott (80) and Richard Johnson (57) patiently waiting to put away the bad ball. With Reed on 114 from 19 overs Johnson was caught and bowled by Adeel Khan (7-0-1-46). Willoughby (33) then joined Garrott at the crease, with the two again building a strong partnership until Willoughby was bowled by Harvey (9-1-30-1). Garrott continued strongly, chipping away at the total in partnership with Peter Baker (7) until Garrott was dismiss by Adeel Khan, having braved through the heat of the day. Baker followed soon after a sharp slip catch off the bowling of Raz Khan (7-0-46-1). With the score at 198-3 from 37 over, the game hung in the balance, however a few boundaries from Rhodri Hughes (12 not out) and Mike Robertson (16 not out) saw Reed the victors in the 41st over.
Match Report submitted by MRR.
