Home advantage wasn't enough as Reed missed out on qualification to the Herts T20 Cup finals day.

The first competitive fixtures of the 2021 season saw four groups of four battle it out to reach the June showpiece.

Reed had the honour of hosting one of the groups and got a victory in their semi-final, beating Hoddesdon by seven wickets.

They had lost the toss and were put into the field but enjoyed a good start, Ed Wharton's delivery tempting Hoddesdon skipper Rob Walters into a shot that Jack Caine hung on to.

However, Hoddesdon enjoyed a good spell after this, thanks in the main to 61 off 44 balls from James Curtis.

Jayden Broodryk (27) and Sam Davis (21) kept the score ticking over but Reed kept them under control as they finished on 156-7. Sean Tidey and Matt Giblin took two wickets each, for the loss of 21 and 15 runs respectively.

The reply was led by Wharton who smashed 88 in 41 balls including five fours and whopping eight sixes.

And by the time he was out in the 15th over, Reed were just 21 runs from the winning line.

They lost one more wicket, Mitchell Cooper bowled for 30, but they were sorted with three overs in hand.

The final pitted them against Harpenden who had overcome Old Owens in clinical fashion in their semi-final.

Reed won the toss and opted to put them into bat but as they did earlier in the day, Harpenden went on to score 163, this time for the loss of six wickets.

Chad Barrett was their top scorer with 75 not out, claimed off 47 deliveries, while Giblin again took a couple of wickets for Reed.

But the Harpenden bowlers proved too much for the home side as they skittled them all for just 94 inside 13 overs.

With James Heslam and Tom Greaves unable to bat, it was left to Wharton (37) and Cooper (27) again but the away team were never in trouble.

Reed seconds meanwhile lost by five wickets away to their Lutonian counterparts in a 40-over friendly.

They made 115 batting first, Richard Barlow top scoring with 40, but despite 2-21 from Julien Fynn and another two for Sam Osborne, Lutonian were in a hurry and clinched victory in the 20th over.