LEADERS Royal Wootton Bassett bounced back from their surprise defeat to Box seven days previous to wrap up a five-wicket triumph over struggling Beanacre & Melksham on Saturday.

Bassett maintained their lead over second-placed Urchfont, who also won, as Asanka Vithanage (4-29) and Akash Sharma (4-10) ripped through the visitors’ batting order, which ended at 88 all out off 36.5 overs.

The hosts knocked off the required runs inside 25 overs.

Urchfont stayed on their tail with a four-wicket success at Bradford on Avon, who were dismissed for 147 in their final over of 45.

Matt Harrington made 48 for the home side while Tony Laws added 25 and Marvin Simon took 3-28 for the visitors.

Ben Hodder’s 66 helped Urchfont to their target off 36 overs.

Lacock’s title hopes took a hit as they were defeated by 18 runs by visitors Nationwide House.

Nick Clarke’s unbeaten 106 - he eventually retired injured - got the Swindon side to 213-7 from their 45 overs, Jamie Walker taking 3-36 for the home side.

Joe Perkins took 3-44 in the reply, which was led by Miles Copland’s 38, and fell short on 195 all out in the final over.

Division 2

AVEBURY’S pursuit of leaders Bear Flat suffered a hammer blow as they were stunned by visiting Swindon Nalgo.

Things looked good for the home side when they dismissed their rivals for just 143, Wes Hartslief taking 5-28 as Mudassar Rafiq hit 71 and Imran Dastagir 34 for Nalgo.

However, the tables were turned as Avebury’s pursuit of the target was halted on 193, despite Henry Fry’s 38 and 28 for Dominic Fry.

Sarfraz Khan (3-25) and Prashant Joshi (3-38) did the damage for Nalgo.

Swindon United Churches remain fourth despite a 31-run victory over bottom side Keevil.

Asked to bat first on a sticky pitch, Churches were given an early scare by the spirited Keevil bowlers and were struggling at 47-4.

Liam Brooks (78 off 81 balls) and hard-hitting Dean Tomlin (60 off 44 balls) swung the momentum of the innings with a stand worth 153.

Josh Hamblin (3-39) led the Keevil attack and captain Andy Hallett opened the reply with a measured 69 from 92 balls.

Churches bowlers had to be patient, Richard Martin (3-29) and Dean Tomlin (2-37) the standout performers with the ball as, despite a last-wicket partnership of 30 between Hamblin (17 not out) and Simon Emmett (eight not out), Keevil ended on 201-9.

Wroughton Wranglers romped to a seven-wicket success over Heytesbury & Sutton Veny, who were dismissed for 67 as Phil Woodcock took 5-10.

Craig Taylor’s unbeaten 30 guided Wroughton home inside 21 overs.

Division 3

LEADERS Beehive suffered their first defeat of the season as they slumped to a 93-run loss at Seagry.

The hosts’ 232 all out was built around Josh Hugo’s 110 and 28 from Will Tidmarsh as well as 22 from Angelo Moretti, while there were three wickets each for Beehive’s James Taylor, Steve Taylor and Jayke Hudd.

Tidmarsh (4-27) and Steve Thompsett (2-2 in 10 balls) left Beehive well off the pace at 139 all out, despite knocks of Ivan Mahany (36 not out) and Mike Spong (30).

Wootton Bassett 2nd closed the gap at the top with a 48-run success against Ramsbury, scoring 220-8 in their 45 overs, led by Charanveer Chahal’s 106 and 50 from Mark Vincent.

Iain Bourne took 4-65 for Ramsbury but despite Dave Smith’s 44, their reply ended on 172-9 as Paul Huckin took 5-43.

Wanborough sauntered past Corsham 3rd, who made 173-6 in their 45 overs, Ben Da Costa scoring 76 and Liam Stacey taking 4-50.

There were few problems in the reply as unbeaten knocks of 61 and 42 from Nick Stacey and Mike Pethick respectively, as well as 50 from Ian McMurray, got Wanborough home inside 39 overs.

Harry Clarke (3-22) and Hannah Morgan (2-13) helped Potterne 3rd dismiss Wilcot for 121 to secure a 58-run success.

Earlier, Ed Fruen (70) and Jack Hurley (38) had led Potterne to 179 all out.

Division 4

WHITE Horse saw their lead at the top of the table cut to 24 points as they lost by 43 runs at home to Goatacre.

With Lambourn losing by six wickets at Buscot Park, the Goats took full advantage to climb into second place.

In a low-scoring match the visitors were restricted to 138-8, with Tom Ponting leading the way with 64.

Then it was left to the bowlers as Horse were dismissed for 95 as Dan Smart (4-17) and Luke Stoneham (3-13) did the damage.

Swindon B hit the deck as they lost their bottom-of-the-table clash with Beanacre & Melksham 2nd.

Beanacre’s Chris Long ripped through the County Ground’s batsmen as he claimed figures of 6-13 from just 26 balls with visitors dismissed for 95.

But the hosts, who began the day at the foot of the table, were made to sweat for their one-wicket win as John Harris picked up seven wickets as Beanacre reached their target in the 21st over.

Division 5

BURBAGE and Easton Royal 3rd maintained their lead at the summit as they defeated Hinton Charterhouse 2nd.

Matthew Spencer hit 116 for Hinton as they looked to put themselves in the driving seat in this clash as they posted 242-6 from their 45 overs, with Cameron Rose also helping himself to a half-century.

However, useful contributions from Burbage’s Russ Buck (53), Ashley Rosier (39) and Don Lohrentz (64) saw them to a two-wicket success in the 40th over.

Division 6

POTTERNE 4th continued their charge towards promotion as they crushed Marlborough 3rd by 10 wickets.

Craig Raddon and Harley Woodman claimed three wickets apiece as Marlborough were dismissed for 154.

The leaders needed just 23.2 overs to secure victory as Phil Alsop (89*) and Andrew Hillier (40*) guided them home without incident.

Division 7

HIGHWORTH moved a step closer to moving out the bottom division as they beat Devizes 3rd by 103 runs.

Having scored 245-6 from their 45 overs with the help of contributions from Luke Roche (76*), Gavin Blundell (66*) and Mason Thompson (36), Devizes were then bowled out for 142.

However, Biddestone 4th remain hot on Highworth’s heels they crushed Wanborough 2nd by 226 runs.

After posting 281-4 through Mark Merrimen (112*) and Richard Toghill (90), it was left to the bowlers to rip apart Wanborough, skittling them for just 55 in 24 overs as Seb Galardo and Harry Roberts claimed four wickets each.

Calne 3rd made a flying start with a quickfire 22 from Aaron Batson, before three wickets from Westbury 3rd’s Nick Heron pegged the home side back to 38-3 after 12 overs.