A STRONG total of 266 was not enough for Purton to claim victory at home to Great Bedwyn as they slumped to a crushing nine-wicket defeat.

The score was the highest posted by Aaron Lee’s men by some distance so far this summer but a dominant innings from Great Bedwyn number three Robert Palmer, who scored an impressive unbeaten 140, meant that target was chased down with relative ease.

Purton headed into the game with just one victory in their last six league fixtures but showed their intent by opting to bat in good conditions after winning the toss.

Plenty of home batsmen made positive starts, with the top three of Sam Shelford, Elijah Samuel and Tom Bowler all scoring 17 apiece.

Sam Collier then took on the mantle and top scored with fine knock of 52, while solid support from Adam Woolford (41*), Santhosh Iyengar (22) and skipper Lee (20) saw Purton post a defendable total.

Richard Bosson was the pick of the visiting attack with 3-59.

After tea, the hosts were able to make an early inroad when they got their hands on the ball, with Iyengar trapping John Palmer leg before with just 24 runs on the board.

However, that was as good as it got for Purton as number three Robert Palmer came to the crease and took the home attack apart with ease.

The brilliant Great Bedwyn batsman plundered 140 punishing runs in a near-faultless display, while excellent support from James Hart (76*) saw the visitors reach their target with eight overs to spare.

The result sees Purton slip to third from bottom in the table and Lee’s men are now just 13 points above the drop zone.