MALMESBURY thought their goose was cooked when they were left to chase a mammoth 327 against Great Bedwyn last Saturday.

But by the end of the day, Jack Ward’s men had ascended from the Wiltshire Division relegation zone after heroes George Royle and James Gillespie hit a storming 158 and 145 respectively to pull off a club-record run-chase at the Wortheys.

“We bowled absolutely terribly. They were on fire for 15 or 20 overs and we were joking with Bedwyn at tea saying ‘just let us get to 220, which will get us the batting points, and we’ll call it a game’,” said Ward.

“But then George and James batted the best I’ve ever seen them bat. It was the best game I’ve ever been a part of and they’re both class players – they just showed their talent.

“We never thought that we could chase down 327 and when George got out and we needed 20 runs from the last two overs, I came in with James and we got there.

“It wasn’t a game that we thought we were going to win but it was one that we thought we had a chance of winning. We thought it was a 50-50 game, so we were really happy to win it and get out of the bottom two.”

Great Bedwyn batted first after winning the toss and were inspired by Richard Bosson, who hit 112.

James Hart (81) and captain John Palmer (47) also helped put the visitors seemingly in control but the Malmesbury response was emphatic.

After Royle and Gillespie’s sensational response, the hosts reached 328-1 midway through the penultimate over.

Meanwhile, Marlborough’s title ambitions suffered a blow as they slipped to a second successive defeat at Devizes.

Tom Shaw (78), Tim Saye (64) and Joe Wookey all found their range as the hosts posted a fine 283-3, whilst the visitors’ Bradley Frost claimed 4-54.

But Marlborough fell short in their efforts to rescue a result as they were skittled for 214 in the final over of their innings, with Bradley Frost’s 59 and Peter Day’s 55 in vain as Ben McGowen took 3-17.

A second successive defeat leaves Arran Dickinson’s men third in the table, whilst Tom Grant’s Devizes remain fifth, 28 points ahead of Bedwyn.

Elsewhere, Marshfield triumphed by 91 runs at Calne, skipper James Williams leading the way with 71 as his team clinched their third victory in four outings.

The visitors posted 213-9, with Tom Crosby and Elliot Bodman taking three wickets apiece But the home run-chase never really got off the ground, with Matthew Richards’ 38 far from enough as they were skittled for 122 in the 39th over, with Cameron Walker claiming 3-18.