For the majority of their innings, Reed were well on top as Tom Thorpe hit 30 in partnership with Stuart Smith who was then joined by Skipper, Rob Lankester, in a stand of 82. Smith made a resolute 46 until he was trapped in front , but Lankester built a score of 68 until he attempted a third maximum and was caught on the boundary. From 168 the collapse began as batters fell to lofted drives and two run outs as Reed were all out in the 49th over. Ampthill bowlers shared the wickets between them, although their captain Ben Slavinski failed to take one even though he was allowed to bowl 11 overs!
In reply, the hosts cruised to victory scoring at 5 an over throughout their innings, despite Matt Giblin claiming an early wicket. Everitt, Nehmi and Slavinski all made significant contributions as the only bowler to trouble them was Sean Tidey who had two victims caught driving by Phil Frenay and bowling a third to finish with figures of 3-35 – the best return for the second week running. Giblin snatched a late wicket courtesy of another brilliant diving catch by Max Sanderson, but by then the game was up.
This result means the gap at the top is down to 3 points as Ampthill and St Albans are hot on Reed’s tail.

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