Superb Saxena strangles the Firsts’ run rate

Reed 1st XI made a much better fist of their game against Totteridge Millhillians than they did against Potters Bar. Despite the overcast conditions, Tom Greaves decided to bat and the openers struggled to score as Smith and Wray bowled an accurate line. Nevertheless, most of the top order made a reasonable start with Tom himself top scoring. Once again though, he perished for 34 soon after nailing his first maximum. Mention must be made too for Under 15s Max Sanderson, who looked very much at home batting against a fine attack until he was unluckily run out for 11. However, the star turn was Totteridge’s left arm spinner, Iresh Saxena, who produced a master class of consistency, producing figures of 10-7-4-2. It was left to Sean Tidey (20) to bring up a total of 133 just before the 46 overs, allotted after a rain break, were up. Totteridge looked to be strolling to victory at 70-1 despite another spell of tight bowling from Toby Fynn, but Mitchell Cooper (1-29) broke the partnership of Miles and Keeping and Rob Lankester rocked the visitors with two wickets in an over, finishing with 3-27, after an exciting spell causing the batsmen to play and miss repeatedly. However, even Ed Wharton couldn’t stop Totteridge’s crawl to victory, although he cleverly disposed of gun opener Ben Howgego caught by Greaves at silly mid on and bowled the dangerous Sam Smith just as he was starting to rack up the boundaries. His 9 overs contained 4 maidens and 2 wickets for a miserly 19 runs. In the end, Totteridge won by 3 wickets with a couple of overs to spare, leaving Reed smarting with only 5 points again to show [...]

By |2021-05-18T05:40:38+01:00May 18th, 2021|Categories: 2021, 2021 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Superb Saxena strangles the Firsts’ run rate

It’s tough at the top

Reed 1st XI met their match at the home of last year's Herts Premier League champions. Electing to bat first in a match reduced to 40 overs per side, Potters Bar steadily accumulated runs with careful batting. Gale (24) and Hussain (35) built the platform for their innings while Sri Lankan, Wijesuriya (50) and South African, Machado (31) accelerated the scoring rate with J. Scott , Bannister and Chapman finishing in a flurry of boundaries. 216-8 was a formidable total on a wind swept afternoon. Reed's bowlers toiled manfully with Toby Fynn in particular containing the openers to finish with figures of 8-2-27-1. Ed Wharton (2-45) and Kapil Dave (1-46) also deserve mention for bowling at the death and could have had further reward should sharp chances have been taken. The batsmen, in contrast, struggled against their host's accurate varied attack. Only Rob Lankester's stylish 53 caught the eye as he struck 5 fours and 2 sixes with a range of aggressive strokeplay. However, the quest for the big shot down the ground accounted for three of Reed's top four so when Lankester finally holed out the innings subsided losing 6 wickets for 26 runs in a total of 117 in 30 overs. The team will have to fight hard for every point in the top division this season. Match Report submitted by Peter Wholley. Note: Reed 1st XI scored 5 points from playing in this match. Meanwhile, both Reed 2nd XI and Reed 3rd XI started their campaigns with 10 points each as both games were cancelled because of the widespread rain!

By |2021-05-10T05:58:40+01:00May 10th, 2021|Categories: 2021, 2021 Match Report, Match Reports|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on It’s tough at the top
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