ALEX Kill was the star of the show as his century helped Swindon overcome local rivals Royal Wootton Bassett by 131 runs in their WEPL Wiltshire clash at the weekend.

Having been inserted to bat by visitors Bassett, Swindon captain Marc Williamson set about making his way to a half-century before Kill joined him at the crease at 75-2.

Kill went on to strike a run-a-ball 115 not out as Swindon ended their innings on 284-6.

And despite making a confident start to their reply at 64 without loss, Bassett began to crumble once Connor O’Shea set about picking up a five-for, and the visiting team were bowled out for 153.

Williamson felt his team achieved an above-par total and was left in no doubt as to who helped them achieve their second win in their first three matches of the summer.

He said: “The game was really won in the second half of our innings.

“Alex Kill made a great 115 not out and Tom Foreman ably helped him out with an invaluable 43 not out, which really pushed us on to an above-par score.

“The man of the match was definitely Alex. He bowled pretty well too, but his 115 on that deck was exceptional.

“Connor (O’Shea) bowled really and took five good wickets, but from our point of view, Alex made the biggest difference.

“It’s always nice to get one over Bassett. They’re our local team that we always look to beat every year – it was good to get it done.”

Swindon have started the season undefeated through their initial trident of fixtures and have now recorded back-to-back victories since their tie against Devizes on the opening day.

Williamson is pleased to see not only his top-order batsmen hit some decent early-season form, but his bowlers have not required any time to hit their straps either.

He said: “The pitch started off a bit slow on Saturday and it wasn’t easy to score. But as the day went on, it got flatter and better to bat on. In the end, it was a really good cricket wicket.

“All of our batsmen are stepping up at the minute. All of the top five have got 50s and we’ve posted some decent scores.

“We’re bowling well as a unit too. We’re bowling to plans and really doing well to restrict our opposition.

“No one has got more than 175 against us so far, so it’s going really well.”

Elsewhere, Purton suffered defeat by four wickets on Saturday as Potterne 2nd picked up their first win of the new season.

Visitors Potterne sent the home side into bat and began well, removing Phil Duffell and Elijah Samuel early as Purton stumbled to 30-2.

Wicketkeeper Adam Keane and captain Tom Whittaker made 28 and 38 respectively before both were removed in the same manner.

Md-Sohidul Alam claimed both scalps as the two Purton batsmen nicked behind to visiting keeper Jack Hurley.

Whittaker’s Purton managed to reach 184 before their final wicket fell, and were briefly in with a shout of claiming the win when Potterne’s 69-1 turned into 69-4.

However, it was not enough as Sam Gaiger’s half-century steadied Potterne’s nerves and the visitors made it home with 10 overs and three balls remaining in their innings.