CRICKET: Swindon Utd Churches take their winning run to six in a row at Keevil

The 22-point win for Churches moved them just behind Chippenham 2nds at the top of the table.

Keevil won the toss and asked Churches to bat first on a muggy, overcast afternoon. Opener Jimmy Mann (30) got the innings off to a flying start before being brilliantly caught at cover off the bowling of J Hamblin. Fellow opener Matt Shadwick became Hamblin's second victim to leave the visitors on 42-2.

Daniel Hunt (44) and Chris Gilchrist (43) shared in a 61-run partnership for the third wicket, before Churches lost three wickets for just two runs.

Left-armer S Emmett (3-57) removed Gilchrist and Matt Runkel, before Liam Brooks fell to right-arm seamer M Evans to leave the innings on a knife edge at 105-5.

The arrival of wicket-keeper Mark Defty to the crease soothed any Churches worries though, as he quickly found his rhythm to strike 14 fours and two sixes on his way to a brilliant unbeaten 89.

Defty received ample support from skipper Rich Martin and the destructive Bilal Hussain (44* from 18 balls).

Hussain took 26 runs from the final over of the innings as he propelled the visitors to a mammoth score of 282-7 from 45 overs.

The Keevil top-order batsmen attacked from the off. S Tyler and A Hallett reached 43-0 before Hussain (2-41) backed up his batting efforts by removing both openers in his first spell.

Number three batsman G Perritt (73) continued to make Churches sweat with lusty blows over the boundary, but wickets crucially continued to fall at the other end.

Martin and Gilchrist (3-37) did the majority of the damage to the Keevil batting order, despite some late order resistance from R Tilsley and Hamblin. Hunt chipped in with a couple of late wickets to bring the innings to a close at 185 all out inside 35 overs.

It was a spirited effort from 10-man Keevil, earning them eight points in defeat.

Next up for the Sevenhampton-based Churches, is a home fixture against mid-table Wroughton Wranglers on Saturday.