SWINDON 2ND moved within three points of the top of the Division One table after an eight-wicket win at Bear Flat.

Chris Bence scored 65 but Bear Flat had only reached 153-8 after the conclusion of their 45 overs.

John Baden (69 not out) and Paul Davies (54 not out) then made short work of the reply as Swindon reached their target in the 31st over, finishing on 154-2.

Swindon’s rise was aided by defeats for the top two as leaders Potterne 2nd went down by four wickets at home to Great Bedwyn, while second-placed Hinton Charterhouse lost by six wickets at Winsley.

Charterhouse’s fate was only sealed with two balls of the game to spare as Neil Gibson’s 120 and 66 from Thomas Wheatley guided Winsley to a winning total of 251-4.

Chris Antrobus (75) and Henry Cheal (59) had earlier helped Charterhouse post 250-7 off their 45 overs.

Meanwhile, a score of 275 was not enough for Potterne to defend, with Jack Bramwell (84) and Milan Perera (60) helping them reach that total as Chris Blundy and Jack Smith took three wickets each for Bedwyn.

Robert Palmer (64), Josh Quinn (52), Nick Davies (48) and Max Andrews (36 not out) all made valuable contributions for Bedwyn in reply as they reached 279-6 with two overs to spare.

Nick Clarke’s unbeaten 77 guided Nationwide House to a four-wicket win at Avebury.

Jatin Suri took three wickets to limit Avebury to 135-8, with Andy Schofield scoring 67 of those, before Clarke saw House home relatively trouble free, finishing on 139-6 with 17 balls to spare.

Division Two

PRASHANT Joshi’s unbeaten century kept Swindon NALGO top of the pile, but only after a narrow one-wicket defeat of Warminster 2nd.

Matt Greatley (93) and Richard Davie (75) helped Warminster rack up a hefty 256-7 off their 45 overs, but Joshi scored 127 not out in reply to guide NALGO to a winning 260-9 with an over to spare despite Carl Crabtree claiming four wickets.

Tim Knight shone for Biddestone 2nd as they won at home to Lacock, scoring a century in their 12-run success.

Knight (104), Thomas Walker (50) and Will Pritchett (37) helped Biddestone post 243-6 as Lacock’s John Wiltshire took 3-59.

In reply, Lacock could only reach 231-7 by the end of their 50 overs. Mark Wiltshire scored 51 and Matt Loft made 46 as two smart run-outs by James Bartlett kept the visitors in check.

Liam Brooks’ 74 was in vain for Swindon United Churches as they lost by four wickets at Bath Hospitals.

Four wickets for Hospitals’ Stuart Webb-Martin saw Churches bowled out for 179 in the last of their 45 overs, before Jake Calgie made 93 not out to guide the hosts past their target with more than 12 overs to spare, finishing on 181-6.

Division Four

COMBE Down’s first league action in three weeks brought a seven-wicket defeat at Marshfield 2nd.

Asked to bat first, the Downers laboured to 163 all out, with Jack Stansfield top scoring on 45 as seven Marshfield bowlers chipped in with wickets.

In reply, Dan Watson (88) steered the hosts to a winning 164-3 inside 43 overs, despite the best efforts of Simon Elliman, who took 2-6 off nine overs.

Division Five

MELKSHAM bounced back from their first defeat of the season with an emphatic 10-wicket victory at home to strugglers Collingbourne.

After winning the toss and putting the visitors into bat, leg-spinner Chris Singh proceeded to tear the Collingbourne middle order apart, finishing with impressive figures of 4-20. There were also three wickets for Jack Footner as Collingbourne were dismissed for a meagre 75.

In response, Melksham openers Daniel Carpenter (42) and Tom Wallis (26) rarely looked troubled as they set about chasing down the target, and they successfully reached 76 in 19 overs.

Erlestoke remain at the head of the standings courtesy of Toby Dorgan’s century in their dominant 210-run victory at Bathford.

Openers Mike Barton (57) and N Palmer (51) got the ball rolling for Erlestoke before Dorgan’s 107 eventually saw them total 290-7 off their 45 overs.

Bathford were skittled for just 80 in reply as Terry Evans took three wickets.

Biddestone 3rd claimed just a second win of the summer as they beat visitors Purton 2nd by two wickets.

Batting first, Ryan Allen (69) and Phil Duffell (42) helped Purton to 173-8 as Joe Panes took 3-29 for Biddestone.

Martin Hewitt’s unbeaten 71 was then the backbone of Biddestone’s reply, as his 94-run partnership with Sam Smith (35) for the seventh wicket saw the home side reach their target to finish on 175-8.