Wiltshire CCL Div Two

Collingbourne 245 all out; Swindon United Churches 129 all out

A DASHING innings of 135 (including 14 fours and seven sixes) by Collingbourne number four batsman Paul Gittens put Swindon United Churches to the sword on Saturday afternoon.

Collingbourne won the toss and elected to bat first on a beautiful batting pitch.

Churches started well with the ball and soon had the hosts in a spot of bother at 96-4. The fourth wicket brought Gittens and Archie Scott (50) together and they shared in a brutal partnership of 138.

The return to the attack of skipper Richard Martin (6-58) helped Churches bring the innings to an abrupt end, but the damage had been done, and Collingbourne posted 245 all out from 43.3 overs.

A rejigged batting top order didn’t give Churches the rocket start they were looking for and it was always going to be an uphill struggle from 33-3.

An enterprising innings of 30 from Chris Gilchrist gave the visitors hope but only Jimmy Mann (17), Keith Coatsworth (13), Matt Runkel (16) and Richard Martin (10) also made it into double figures as Churches folded meekly.

The final score of 129 all out left them 116 runs short of the target.

Archie Scott (4-19) and Ryan Fraser (3-17) did the damage for Collingbourne.