A HALF-century by Richard Bates helped Chippenham to their fifth consecutive victory as they secured a four-run win at home to newly crowned champions Glastonbury on Saturday.

Bates was also the pick of Chippenham bowlers, taking three wickets for 49 runs, as they kept alive their hopes of a top four finish.

Captain Trevor Lloyd, making his first appearance for three weeks, was delighted with the recent run of results and said it was important to carry it into their last two matches of the season.

He said: "We are going well at the moment. At the start of the season we targeted a top four finish but after a poor start, this looked unrealistic.

"But now we have given ourselves a chance and a couple more good results could see us sneak into the top four.

"The players have grown in confidence as our run continues to grow and they believe we are capable of doing things now.

"Instead of relying on individuals the whole team is chipping now to help us get the results.

"If we can continue this run until the end of the season, it will give us something to build on for next campaign."

Chippenham won the toss and elected to bat, and Bates' 50 gave them a solid start at the start of the innings.

Mark Hunt (39) and Jace Lawson, (35) kept the pressure on the visitors with Ian Merryweather adding 21 before retiring hurt as Chippenham finished on 197-8.

In reply, Glastonbury looked on course for victory with the prolific Wes Durston hitting the Chippenham bowling attack all over the pitch.

But Durston was eventually out for 78 when John Rumbles stumped him off the bowling of Bates to give the hosts fresh hopes of victory.

Lloyd then took the last two wickets to leave the champions all out, three runs behind Chippenham.

Jason Searle and Lloyd finished the match with two wickets apiece, while 14-year-old Liam Dawson also picked up a wicket.

Lloyd said: "Our fielding and bowling had to be very good against a side like that and in the end I think we thoroughly deserved the win.

"It's a shame we could not start playing like this earlier in the season because then we could have been challenging for promotion.

"Richard Bates did an excellent job as stand-in captain and also performed well on Saturday. I just hope I can carry on his success."