1st XI Defeat Bottom-Side Reed by 8 Wickets

In contrast, the home side had managed to beat the weather this season, completing each game but sitting bottom of the league without a win.

The day started well for Hertford, with skipper Benji Cowell winning the toss and electing to bowl first in overcast conditions. Without regular opening bowler Andrew Knight for this week, Jamie Regan joined James Leather in taking the new ball and was in the action early on, clean bowling William Heslam for a duck in his second over.

At the other end, Leather was finding prodigious swing and beating the bat regularly. It did not take him long to get his reward, first pushing one away from left hander Lankester before hooping one back between bat and pad to take his middle stump.
Runs were extremely hard to come by for the home side, with Leather registering 4 maidens in a row to start the game and as the pressure built more wickets followed. Reed captain Tom Greaves mistimed a pull shot off Leather and was caught by Tom Orchard, who extended his long arms behind his head and pulled off an unlikely one-handed catch.

Hertford had Reed on the ropes at 12-3 and the home side were soon in more trouble as Leather took wickets in consecutive balls to reduce them to 22-5. First, he found the outside edge of Ed Wharton with keeper Cowell clinging onto a smart catch down low, before hitting the new man on the pad in front of all three stumps. The slip cordon was packed for the hat-trick ball and they were all left with their heads in their hands as Leather sent one fizzing a whisker away from Sampson’s off stump.

Only Richard Wharton was providing any sort of resistance for Reed but he was swiftly running out of partners. Sampson shouldered arms to a ball from Adam Carlson which took his middle stump and then Dan Orchard, making his first premier league appearance of the season, removed numbers 8, 9 and 10 with a spell of testing bowling, including another smart catch by Carlson at gully.

Hertford failed to take the final wicket before the lunch break was called but were in a dominant position with the opposition on 81-9. Richard Wharton was on 43* but other than his efforts there had been little resistance. When play resumed it did not take long for the final wicket to be taken as last man Kapil Dave called for an ambitious three whilst trying to get off strike, only to find himself 2 yards short as Alan Jones whistled the ball in from the boundary. Reed were all out for 84 from 31 overs with opener Wharton carrying his bat for a well-played 45*. The Hertford bowling unit could be very pleased with their day’s work, particularly James Leather (4-17) and Dan Orchard (3-12).

The visitors knew that the home side would do their best to exert early pressure in what were still fairly bowler friendly conditions. Ed Wharton found some early seam movement and quickly removed the Hertford opening pair of Jamie Riddle and Will Ray.

However, that was the best things got for Reed as Alan Jones punished anything that wasn’t on a good line and length. He mixed in some sumptuous drives of the front and back foot, with some crunching cut and pull shots when the bowlers dropped short. Even the mystery spin of Kapil Dave did not throw Hertford off course as Jones and Cavener pushed them towards their victory target. With the target in sight Jones decided to get the game finished, hitting Greaves for two sixes and a four to both bring up his 50 and to get Hertford over the line.
This was the sort of dominant performance that the Hertford captain Benji Cowell had asked for and he will be hoping that his side can continue in a similar vein next week at Balls Park against Potters Bar.

Author: James Leather