SWINDON captain Alex Kill hailed the performance of Cameron Baden as the County Ground men claimed a 44-run success over Marshfield in WEPL Wiltshire.

In what has been a season of mixed results for Swindon, Baden’s 4-32, which included two wickets in the opening three balls of Marshfield’s innings, set the tone for a dominant bowling display.

After winning the toss, Kill had no hesitation in batting first on a dry wicket and while Swindon lost early wickets as the new ball seaming around, a fourth-wicket partnership between the skipper and Liam Tucker got them out of trouble.

Tucker joined Kill at the crease with Swindon on 33-3 and they managed to move the score on to 122 before the former fell for a patient 39.

The skipper went on to hit 72 off 111 balls, while Wahab Khalib chipped in with a useful 27 as Swindon were bowled out off the penultimate ball of their innings for 205.

“The new ball seamed around so it wasn’t easy for either team at the top of the order,” said Kill.

“Once we’d lost the wickets, it was crucial for us to rebuild and make sure we didn’t lose any more.

“Fortunately, myself and Liam managed to get through that tricky period and then build a partnership to make sure we could put a respectable total on the board.

“With the new ball seaming around and the ball turning sharply at times in the middle overs, anything over 200 batting first was going to give us a good chance of winning the game.”

Swindon then saw Baden tear into the Marshfield top order, with the opening three visiting batsmen all back in the hutch without scoring.

From 16-4, Marshfield recovered to 86-5, which moved on to 160-8 before they were dismissed for 161.

“Cam’s opening over was a dream start,” said Kill. “He hit his length straight away and moved the ball around enough to find the edge.

“In our league, we all know it is important to keep wickets in hand, so to get two in the first over really set the tone and made it an uphill battle for Marshfield.

“Cam has bowled really well all year without necessarily getting the wickets he deserves. Saturday was the reward that was overdue.”

Elsewhere, Purton were unable to build on their previous victory at Great Bedwyn as they were soundly beaten by seven wickets at leaders Trowbridge.

Aaron Lee’s men, who beat the table-toppers on the opening day of the season, were bowled out for 164.

The opening three Purton batsmen could only share four runs between them, which all came from a boundary from Sizwe Masondo, while the bottom four batsmen added five.

In reply, Trowbridge reached their target in 22.2 overs.

Royal Wootton Bassett suffered a 92-run home defeat against second-placed Warminster.

The visitors posted a challenging 254-8, with Asanka Vithange claiming 4-48.

In reply, Bassett, who were blown away for just 55 in their last outing against Marshfield, put in an improved performance with the bat, however, they were dismissed for 162 despite a 60 from Jared McDonald.