After 2 barren years, the U13s recorded their first league victory against top-of-the-table Broxbourne 2s in a closely fought match that went down to the wire.
Broxbourne won the toss and elected to put Reed into bat – A decision which appeared to be paying off as Reed struggled to accumulate runs against tight bowling.
Opener Eddie Cooke was bowled cheaply (1), bringing newcomer Lewis Abdul-Karim to the crease in the 5th over with Reed on 12 runs. Lewis’s years perfecting his golf swing proved useful in the middle as he found the boundary twice before being run out to a direct hit from deep on 9 runs. Reed were 47 for 2 in the 10th over.
Tom Green came to the crease knowing that the run rate needed to improve if Reed were going to post a defendable total – which he duly did until opener Callum Rickets was bowled on 13. The dynamic partnership of Tom Green and Daniel Vincent rarely disappoints and the run rate accelerated again with quick-witted running between the wickets and continuous strike rotation Reed raced past 100 runs before Tom shipped a catch to a fielder…. departing agonisingly close to retirement on 29; closely followed by Daniel (18) – who found a fielder whilst trying to clear the boundary in the 19th over.
Aaron Nash added a quick-fire 5 in 4 balls – partnered by Lily Hall (bowled – 0) and Tash McNamara (0) who closed out the innings.
Reed posted a respectable 124
Reeds bowling needed to be composed and tight – Which is was…
The opening partnership of Callum Ricketts (2-0-0-4) and Daniel Vincent (3-0-0-12) kept Broxbourne honest… but they decided to go after Lewis Abdul-Karim, who went for 14 off his first over; and quickly redeemed himself, taking a wicket in his second over ending on 2-0-1-17).
Ever dependable Lily Hall kept up her usual standard, proving difficult to score off of (3-0-0-14), supported by Eddie Cooke (3-0-0-15).
Broxbourne kept track with the run rate until the 16th over, where they could not keep pace with Reed’s acceleration, and tight bowling from Aaron Nash (3-0-1-10) and Tom Green (3-0-0-18) only told half the story, where catches were dropped, edges were narrowly missed and LBW decisions didn’t go Reed’s way.
With Broxbourne needing 20 off the final over, Callum Ricketts returned to bowl his last over…. Broxbourne nearly made it – with two 4s and a 6 they fell agonisingly short on 119.
This U13 team is improving every game and the second half of the season is looking promising. This was a particularly strong Broxbourne side, having only lost once so far this season (against their own 1st team).
Match report submitted by Lee Vincent.
