A beautiful summer evening to play a relaxed friendly… Allowing some of the less experienced Under 13 and developing players to gain some match time.
Reed won the toss and opted to bowl. A decision that immediately paid off when Callum Rickets bowled the opening batsman with the first ball of the match. The second wicket proved slightly harder to come by. With Charlie Cannon scoring a superb run-out off Effie Bone’s bowling in the 13th over.
With everyone contributing to the bowling, the runs were harder to come by, with particularly tight bowling from Callum Rickets (2 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket for 7 runs), Charlie Cannon (2-1-0-4), Lewis Abdul-Karim (2-1-0-4).
Chasing 114 for victory, the more experienced and reliable Callum was instructed to rotate the strike to allow others to gain experience. A role he performed admirably – building his total steadily, retiring on 30 in the 15th over partnering 6 other batters, forming a particularly strong partnership with Natasha McNamara (scoring a creditable 11 runs) for 11 overs.
With Natasha falling in the 14th over Reed had accumulated 80 runs. A mini-collapse ensued, with 4 wickets falling for just 10 runs. It looked ominous with 24 required for the last wicket with 14 balls left in the innings.
Cometh the moment, cometh the man…. With the previous narrow loss to St. Margaretsbury (by 3 runs) fresh in the memory Daniel Vincent stepped up to the crease in no mood to hang around. Partnering Oscar Lamb they achieved the required runs in 12 balls…. With Oscar scoring the winning single.
With victory in the bag, the final two balls were bowled with Daniel smashing an enormous 6 over deep midwicket…. ending with 19 runs off 8 balls.
Reed ended on 121 for 7. The mood in the camp was one of euphoria – This was the first victory in 2 seasons.
With the first victory under their belt, Reed can enter the second half of the season with quiet confidence.
Match report submitted by Lee Vincent.
