PURTON were feeling blue after an under-par performance left them on the end of a 126-run WEPL Wiltshire defeat to Westbury.

After losing the toss, it soon became apparent it just wouldn’t be Purton’s day as Westbury’s opening pair Richard Mills and Jared McDonald put on 175 for the first wicket.

McDonald went on to score 105 from 149 balls, while Mills contributed 89.

Daniel Gibbs piled on the agony with 37 not out in 33 balls, with Tom Bowler’s two wickets providing a limited highlight among what were slim pickings for the Purton attack as Westbury racked up 254-4.

The reply was soon in trouble as Westbury captain Alex Senneck swept through the top and middle order, leaving the visitors floundering at 84-7 at one point.

Adam Woolford hit 31 late on for Purton, but they were eventually halted for 128 in the 44th over.

Purton captain Aaron Lee put the defeat down as a bad day at the office, admitting his side had been humbled.

He said: “Of course we are disappointed but, to be honest, we were well and truly beaten. They batted better than us, they fielded better than us and they bowled better than us.

“It was a key toss for them to choose to bat because the pitch was really flat, or it was when we had to bat.”

Despite the disappointing display, Lee believes there are positives to be taken from the performance.

“We actually thought we did quite well to restrict them to 250, which is always going to be a daunting total. Three dropped catches was never going to help either,” said Lee.

“With the batting, no-one in the top six really got going, but it’s tough to be over critical because they have been performing for us most weeks.

“We got ourselves out more than they did. Scoreboard pressure meant we took a couple of rash shots. With the pressure building, we fell behind fairly quickly.

“It’s cricket and it happens sometimes, but we will learn from it and keep working hard.

“It was a bad day at the office which we will put behind us. We have a run of fixtures now where we can get a bit of momentum again.”