With Reed losing opening bat, Richard Johnson, just before the warm up and Dan Fox kindly swapping from being scorer to playing, Reed were asked to bat first after losing the toss,

Reed made an encouraging start, with father and son Chris Cooper (29) and Stanley Cooper (45) putting on 77 for the opening wicket, giving the innings early momentum. However, Hitchin hit back through Vinay Valluri, whose excellent spell of 4-20 alongside old stalwart Simon Warren (2-19) threatened to derail the hosts.

Despite Ethan Fox (10) and Andy Kimsey (21) getting started, at 142-7, Reed were in danger of finishing well below par. Instead, Simon Jackson produced the innings of the day. Remaining composed while wickets fell around him, he finished unbeaten on 53 from 58 balls. Stanley Johnson added valuable late runs with an aggressive 22 not out from 22 deliveries as Reed closed on a competitive 195-7.

Hitchin’s reply never truly recovered from a disastrous start. Young pace bowlers, Oliver Kimsey and Matthew Jackson reduced the visitors to 10-2 before Thomas Ward counter-attacked with a fluent 45 from 42 balls to keep the chase alive.

But Reed’s bowlers tightened their grip. Greg McKinnell delivered a match-defining spell of 3-20 from eight overs, including two maidens, while Owen Hughes backed him superbly with 2-30 from eight. Once Ward fell with Hitchin on 103-7, the outcome was effectively settled as Reed completed a deserved 51-run victory, when the Coopers both took a wicket at the end.

Captain Chris Cooper, was happy with the result. “It was a bit of a roller coaster of a performance. We started and finished our innings well before bowling well in the middle of their innings. We dropped some catches too but then we caught some great ones. Hopefully, it all comes together in the coming weeks, with the top two teams to play”