SKIPPER Alex Bowles described Shrivenham’s chase as “perfect” after his side beat Garsington by six-wickets in OCA Division One.

The visitors had been dismissed for a respectable 204, but 59 from Conor Taylor and an unbeaten 61 for Bowles helped Shrivenham reach their target for the loss of just four wickets.

The Shrivvy captain praised a smart batting performance and is hoping the side’s recent form will be a turning point in their season: “The last two games have definitely given us all confidence with the bat,” he said.

“It wasn’t an easy task on Saturday either. They had some good bowlers on a deck that did a fair bit so I thought it was an especially good performance”

Conor Taylor’s 3-54 were the headline figures from an indifferent bowling display by Shrivenham and despite the win, Bowles admitted improvements still need to made: “We are still struggling with consistency in the bowling department but I suppose Saturday was good enough to just about get the job done,” he said.

“Our chase was perfect. The top order was great and it was good to see we are all hitting some form.”

Saturday’s win keeps Shrivenham comfortably in mid-table and has opened up a quite significant gap ahead of the teams below, but Bowles thought very little of the 36 points that separate his side and Garsington one below: “I haven’t really thought about it” he said. “Our targets have always been to challenge at the top of the league so it’s more important that we string a set of good performances together before we face the tougher teams later.”

Shrivenham travel to Charlbury next weekend as they hope to make it three league wins in row for the first time this year.