A STICKY wicket could do little to slow Purton’s progress as they blazed a trail to their fifth victory of the season last weekend.

The villagers, who sit third in WEPL Wiltshire, maintained their fine campaign with a 99-run home triumph over Devizes on Saturday.

Tom Bowler’s century was the driving force behind Purton’s efforts and skipper Aaron Lee was delighted to see his side shrug off testing conditions to claim another positive result.

“The weather had been quite bad all week, so we knew that we’d be playing on a pretty damp wicket,” said Lee, whose side have only tasted defeat once so far this term.

“It was a pretty tricky one to play on so once we were put in to bat, it was about sticking in there for the first 10 or 15 overs.

“Their bowlers started off really well and we lost Xander (Pitchers) and Shelly (Sam Shelford) quite early but then Tom came in and batted really, really, well.

“It was a great knock from him and it pretty much won us the game. Tom and Deepak (Ramani) had a partnership of over 100, and that got us on our way.

“The scorecard is a little bit misleading because most of the guys after that went quickly but the innings was almost over by the time the top-order guys was gone, so they were just trying to whack it.

“You can defend 233 on most grounds, so we felt that we could do that, but their openers got off to a flier and they almost got to 80-1.

“But Xander and Adam Woolford bowled well after that and we managed to take nine wickets for 50-odd runs.

“It’s good to see that we can come through some tough conditions. We’re in good form.”

Devizes won the toss and put Purton in to bat first, with openers Pitchers and Shelford falling for just 36 runs.

But that brought Bowler to the crease and he anchored the hosts’ innings with an accomplished knock of 103 from 92 deliveries, which included 16 fours, and was also bolstered by the support of Ramani (30).

When Bowler was dismissed with his side on 201-5, the remainder of Purton’s order soon followed, with the visitors’ Ben McGowen taking 3-17 as Lee’s men posted 233-9.

In reply, Devizes opener Joe Wookey hit 41 but captain Tom Grant (25) was the only other visiting player to offer any significant resistance, with Purton’s bowling attack going to work.

Pitchers led the way with figures of 4-31, with Devizes skittled for just 134 midway through the 36th over.