MALMESBURY took full advantage of Wootton Bassett’s defeat to Swindon Civil Service to climb to the top of Division One.

Openers’ Jack Ward and George Royle piled on 240 for the opening wicket at Hinton Charterhouse before the former was dismissed three short of his century.

Marcus Bond quickly followed Ward back to the pavilion before Royle was dismissed for 117 as Malmesbury went post 309-4.

Stuart McNeil and Josh Langley claimed the wickets of the Hinton opening duo leave them 13-2.

Peter Borton and Ben Watkinson provided the hosts’ resistance with61 and 51 not out respectively but Malmesbury restricted them to 214-5 to claim a 95-run success and take a one-point lead at the top of the table.

Wootton Bassett captain Darren Beasant insists that there will be no overreaction to his side’s first defeat of the season.

The Rylands Way side fell to a two-wicket loss at Swindon Civil Service as thelead at the top of Division One slipped from their grasp.

“It was frustrating,” Beasant said. “But we have won four and only lost one.

“We have all got to work harder. We need show more discipline, but we must remain calm.”

After being 85-1, Bassett collapsed to 169 all out after Andy Mildenhall claimed a hat-trick for the hosts despite 65 from Sam Lawro.

Civil Service got home with two balls and two wickets to spare with Mildenhall unbeaten on 24 at the end.

Cameron Wright (46) and Mark Douglas (53) got Collingbourne to 118-1 against Box, but a failure to deal with the spin of Gerald Heywaed (5-21) saw them lose eight wickets in 13 overs for 30 runs as they finished on 167 all out.

Tom Pike took 3-21 in the reply, but thanks to Hayward’s 72, Box got hom with three overs remaining.

Urchfont’s clash with Beanacre & Melksham ende4d in a tie as Urchfont were dismissed for 137 in the 31st over, Joe Dorgan scoring 38 and Cosmos Cupid 26.

Debutant Courtney Earl took 5-49 for Beanacre, whose reply looked in decent shape as they reached 82-4 after 20 overs.

Ben Brown scored 35 and Earl and unbeaten 31, but the bowling attack fought back through Dorgan and Vaughn Williams (3-22).

Reduced to 95-8, a 37-run ninth-wicket partnership between Earl and Rich Hemmings (15) took Beanacre close to victory.

But the reintroduction of Morlon Simon (4-29) saw him remove Hemmings, then concede a boundary to bring the scores level before the final wicket fell two balls later.

Matt Harrington’s unbeaten 50 helped Bradford on Avon to 140 all out against Swindon NALGO, for whom Prashant Joshi too 5-32.

Awaiz Ahmed’s half-century for Nalgo was in vain as they suffered a 16-run loss, Dean Bird taking 4-29.

Division 2

OPENERS Paul Baden (55) and Matthew Gumm (48 not out) helped Swindon A to a nine-wicket win over Keevil, who were dismissed for 124 with Jack Harris taking 5-29.

Steve Copland hit 42 and Phil Steans 37 in Lacock’s 180-6 against Wroughton Wranglers, who were dismissed for 120 as Leigh Rogers (3-17) and Copland (3-24) did the damage.

Nanthakumar Thevsuan took 4-41 as Spye Park ended on 191-9 against All Cannings, Graham Mansell taking 1-31.

But despite 46 from Gareth Robb and Thevasutan’s unbeaten 35, Cannings were all out for 145 in reply, Paul Fennell taking 3-30.

Division 3

KARAN Kumar took 7-54 for Corsham 3rd as they dismissed Seagry for 186, Paul Lewis scoring 51.

Ada Draper’s 63 was not enough though, as Corsham were all out for 151 in reply.

Josh Hodder hit 60 in Potterne 3rd’s 204-7 against Beehive (Southwick), for whom Chris Warren also scored 60 as they came up short on 157 all out.

Mark Vincent (61) and Scott Twine (41) helped Wootton Bassett 2nd to 234-8 against Heytesbury & Sutton Veny as Rob Barnes took 3-29.

The reply came up well adrift on 143 all out, despite an unbeaten 75 from Eddie Reid, Paul Curtis taking 8-32.

Avebury’s 249-6 proved too much for Beanacre & Melksham 2nd, Dean Roodt with 75 and John Rheinberg 67, Roy Veacock taking 2-6.

Beanacre ended on 108-8 as Clive Bayley scored 37.

Division 4

JAS Chamal took 4-16 to dismiss Malmesbury 2nd for just 91, chasing Wootton Bassett 3rd’s 108 all out.

Division 5

IAN Sharpe claimed 5-23 in 6.1 overs as White Horse dismissed Warminster 3rd for 96 – Andrew Crabtree making 25 – before knocking off the runs for the loss of one wicket.

Emily Bogg took three stumpings and a catch for Cherhill as Spye Park 2nd amassed 221, Jon Anstee De Mas scoring 53 and Rob Anstee 44.

Chris Bogg’s 52 led the reply, but three wickets each for Andy Sharp and Russ Fletcher saw them fall short on 134 all out.

Alex Clarke hit 106 in Chippenham 3rd’s 229-5 against Bradford on Avon 2nd, Olly Slade adding an unbeaten 52. Jake Williams’ 4-13 helped dismiss Bradford for just 108 in reply.

Division 6

COLLINGBOURNE 2nd struggled in the field against their Box counterparts, who reached 144-2 before finisbhing on 201-6, Harry Wilde (2-28) being the pick of the bowling as David Kelly scored 74.

Karl Wilson hit a rapid 19 in the reply, but when Will Atkinson (44) was sixth man out with the score on 118, Collingbourne limped to 135 all out with 7.2 overs left.

Harry Roberts’ 4-32 for Biddestone 4th paved the way for their victory over Winsley 3rd, who were all out for 93.

Chris Meggs hit an unbeaten 33 as Biddestone got home with just two wickets down.

Justin Wagstaff excelled with both bat and ball as Heytesbury & Sutton Veny 2nd earned a five-wicket win over Swindon NALGO 2nd.

Wagstaff took 4-22 in 8.3 overs to help dismiss NALGO for just 99, Rob Robson taking 3-30. Wagstaff then hit 36 in the reply, Tom Dalby’s 30 helping Heytesbury home.

Potterne 4th’s Kevin Clarke took 3-22 to restrict Marshfield 3rd to 158-9 in their clash.

Mark Wrigley’s 58 and an unbeaten 48 from Huw Vaughan-Johns 48 got Potterne home for the loss of seven wickets.

Lacock 2nd bowlers James Harding (5-50) and Tim Culling (4-24) ensured Burbage & Easton Royal 3rd were all out for 106 before Joe Foley’s unbeaten 61 wrapped up a six-wicket victory.

Division 7

ANDY Sandell smashed an unbeaten 115 as Goatacre 4th were nine-wicket winners over Buscot Park 2nd.

Tom Mills (3-24) had helped keep Park to 184-7.

Wanborough 2nd’s Will Smith took 2-21, then hit an unbeaten 71 but his side still fell short of Purton 3rd’s 223-7.

Samuel Bull scored 95 for Purton and Bipin Gattapur took 5-24 in the Wanborough innings.

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