TOM Whittaker claimed his maiden first-team century for Purton in style as he racked up his 100th run whilst simultaneously firing his team to victory at Malmesbury.

Purton propelled themselves up to second in WEPL Wiltshire with a six-wicket triumph at The Wortheys last weekend after the hosts had posted 259-8.

But it was Whittaker who was the hero of the hour as he completed his unbeaten knock of 100 with the ball that took Aaron Lee’s side to 260-4.

“We could tell that it was a bit of a batting track but to let them get to almost 260 was pretty poor, really – thankfully, it was a very good run-chase from us,” said the Purton captain.

“The way Tom Bowler went about it was fantastic and Tom Whittaker was brilliant too.

“It was his (Whittaker) first century for the first team and it was a really nice way for him to do it because he got to 100 with the ball that won us the game.

“He played with us all through youth cricket and is back at the club after going travelling for a while – we were really happy for him.

“We went to Malmesbury last year and got bowled out for about 100 but we had a very different team back then to the one that we have now.

“We were struggling last year but now we’re a lot more positive and things are going much better for us.”

Malmesbury won the toss and opted to bat first but their innings got off to a tricky start, with the hosts’ first four wickets falling for 93.

However, James Gaunt came in and hit 83 off 55 deliveries whilst Jack Ward posted 68, with Xander Pitchers taking 3-28 as the hosts posted a competitive total.

Purton’s efforts with the bat also got off to a tumultuous start, with openers Pitchers and Deepak Ramani dismissed for just 23 runs, but number three Bowler weighed in with a fine knock of 88.

That allowed Whittaker to anchor his team’s run-chase, with Adam Woolford (27 not out) and Sam Collier (23) offering support as Lee’s men got over the line.