ROYAL Wootton Bassett lifted themselves off the foot of the WEPL Wiltshire table on Saturday when beating fellow strugglers Potterne 2nd by 56 runs at The Grove.

Bassett lost all seven of their opening league fixtures this season, and were consequently 16 points shy of safety having accumulated 30 points.

But defeat for Hinton Charterhouse at home to Swindon, coupled with Bassett’s timely victory, brought them to within a point of safety with almost half of the season played.

All-rounder Sam Lawro was understandably delighted by Bassett’s efficiency against Potterne throughout Saturday’s game, and praised the bowling work of Asanka Vithanage and Charanveer Chahal – who between them took six wickets for 40 runs from 20 overs.

Lawro added: “We’re delighted to get the first win, Potterne made no secret that they fielded their strongest team of the season, so it was a good win against a half-decent team.

“We can only look at each game as it comes up, but so long as we concentrate on ourselves in the next couple of months then I can see us starting to climb the table.

“We’ll put the hard work in, and hopefully reap the rewards.”

Bassett skipper Anis Ali won the toss and elected to bat – a decision which delivered early rewards as the visitors coasted to 146-3.

Darren Beasant fell for 50, before Ali’s quickfire 54 placed Bassett in the driving seat. Helpful double-figure posts from Lawro (26), Vithanage (16) and David West (11) ensured Bassett reached 233 before they were bowled out.

In reply, Potterne struggled to deal with Chahal’s unplayable spin bowling, as he returned with figures of 5-20.

Only Potterne opener Jack Colyer could pass 30, as Potterne were bowled out for 177.

“I felt we were 20 or 30 runs short of par,” admitted Lawro.

“Potterne is a small ground, so I was hoping for 250 at least to put the pressure on them for the second innings.

“In the end, 233 was enough and we did the job in the field.

“We had 20 good overs of spin from Asanka (Vithanage) and Charanveer (Chahal) – that made it difficult for them to chase their target.

“Asanka bowled one bad ball out of his 60, and Charan was unplayable at times. Both of them were superb with the ball.

“I’ve been talking about people batting in good time as well, and that’s exactly what Darren (Beasant) did for us in the first innings.

“He batted over 100 balls for his 50, and it’s nice to see him enjoying his cricket after a tough few weeks.”

Elsewhere in WEPL Wiltshire, Swindon defeated Hinton Charterhouse by 140 runs.

Marc Williamson’s XI remain in fourth, four points behind Westbury.