DEVIZES captain Tom Grant starred with bat and ball as his side crushed Royal Wootton Bassett by 101 runs to claim their second win of the season in WEPL Wiltshire, writes JONATHAN LEIGHFIELD.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, opener Grant struck exactly 100 before being bowled by Navjot Chahal – an innings that featured 15 fours in his 118-ball stay.

A handful of Devizes batsmen made starts but progressed no further as the visitors set Bassett 240 to win.

But with no Bassett player moving past 35 – Anis Ali top socred with 34 – Darren Beasant’s side fell victim to a bowling masterclass from Grant.

The Devizes skipper intervened with the ball and took 5-27 from eight overs to secure a comfortable victory for his team.

Modest in his own achievements, Grant felt the game was won once his batsmen had posted an above-par score, and said continuous improvements must be made so that a score of over 200 is not a once in a blue moon occurrence.

Grant said: “We struggled against Warminster with the bat the week before and I thought batting was our biggest issue and something we needed to sort out.

“So when we won the toss, we chose to bat first on a pretty good batting track and I just wanted to make sure we posted a good total because I always back our bowlers to defend a good score.

“We don’t bat our 50 overs often enough, so it was nice to bat the full 50 this week.

“I always thought we were going to win the game once we’d scored 240.”

With four games gone in the new season, Devizes sit comfortably in mid-table after losing just one of their opening fixtures.

But with a disappointing draw and low-scoring defeat to their name, Devizes skipper Grant feels they should be in a far higher position than they actually are.

He said: “I think we should have won all four games so far.

“We drew with Swindon when we had plenty of opportunities throughout the game to make sure we won it, and I think we should have won last week as well.

“We bowled Warminster out for 118 and we should have easily won that game.

“We should have won our first four games and we should be at the top of the league.

“So, we’re a bit disappointed with where we are – I’d be disappointed if we finish any lower than the top half.”

Elsewhere, Warminster captain Bradley Parry blasted 92 off just 52 balls to comfortably see his team past the initial 134 all out that Purton had posted. Parry’s innings featured 12 fours and four sixes.

Marshfield kept up their 100 per cent record with a mammoth 198-run victory over struggling Hinton Charterhouse.

Half-centuries from Hugh Jackson (53), Sam Jukes (56) and captain James Williams (59no) saw the league leaders post 307-7 before Marshfield’s bowling attack skittled Hinton out for 109.

Westbury defended 196 all out to defeat Potterne 2nd by 25 runs, while Swindon eased past Calne’s 139-9 to win by seven wickets thanks to Alex Kill’s unbeaten 58 not out and 45 not out from Adam Tucker.