Wiltshire League Division 3

Collingbourne 121

Swindon United Churches 289-5

SWINDON United Churches made it two wins out of two in Wiltshire League Division 3, with a dominant 168 run victory away at Collingbourne.

The margin of victory owed to a couple of star performances from Chris Gilchrist, who struck 134 runs, and Bilal Hussain, who returned figures of 5-19 from seven overs.

Skipper Rich Martin lost the toss and for the second week on the trot, Churches were asked to bat first by the opposition.

Openers Matt Runkel (12) and skipper Martin (4) both departed early to leave Churches 40/2 in the 13th over, but this brought the in-form Gilchrist to the crease to join number three Danny Hunt.

The pair put on a partnership of 126 in just 17 overs to set up a potentially massive score.

With Hunt departing for 52 in the 30th over, Gilchrist continued to go through the gears on his way to a magnificent 134 from 94 balls.

He struck 18 fours and 4 sixes in his century before getting bowled by the excellent T.Carr (9-2-24-2).

Left-armer Carr received little support from his fellow bowlers as Martin Garstang (21 not out) and Tom Burford (13 not out) got Churches up to 289/5 from their 45 overs.

Three early wickets from the excellent Chris Spackman (9-0-44-2) and Martin (5-1-13-1) severely dented the Collingbourne chase, as the hosts found themselves 36/3 in the eighth over.

Owen Shepherd (23) and K.Gingell (37) briefly threatened take the game deep, but the introduction of Tom Burford (6-0-27-1) and Hussain (7-2-19-5) brought about a Collingbourne collapse with the hosts falling from 88/3 to 121 all out.

Four of Hussain’s five victims were clean bowled as he proceeded to mop up the Collingbourne tail.

The impressive five-wicket haul takes his wicket tally to seven for the season already.

The 24 point victory puts the Sevenhampton based Churches top of Division 3.

Churches will look to continue their good form when they play Keevil at home on Saturday.