Reed U13s played a pre-league season friendly on a cold April evening at Letchworth last Thursday. Letchworth won the toss and decided to bat.
Letchworth’s strong batting line-up became immediately apparent, with the 1st 5 batsmen all reaching the required 20 runs, with the opener being particularly strong, retiring in just the second over.
The run rate steadied down after this initial flurry… and the breakthrough eventually came when Daniel Vincent took the first wicket in the very last over. An additional wicket would have been claimed earlier…. had the fielders recognised the batsman had hit his own wicket and appealed! Lesson hopefully learned.
With Reed chasing 152, the runs were always just a little behind the required rate, and with a very young squad was always going to be a tall order. After Jacob Vincent (a pre-arranged ringer from the U14s) and Eddie Cooke retiring early in the innings, runs proved difficult to accumulate against steady, accurate, bowling.
A late flurry from Daniel Vincent (13 from 5 balls) was too little too late on what was, by then, a very chilly evening. Reed closed on 108 for 6.
What was obvious from the very first ball was that this Reed team has shown great improvement over last season, with a far more controlled demeanour with both the bat and ball.
A game played in the very best of spirits to kick-start a promising season.
Match report submitted by LV.
