PURTON skipper Aaron Lee hailed his side’s extraordinary WEPL Wiltshire performance against league leaders Warminster on Saturday, a game which ended the unbeaten start from Pete Hickerton’s men.

Warminster stumbled to 278 all out after Purton’s Craig Annis (4-19) starred with the ball to put the game within the home side’s reach.

A standout knock of 165 from only 94 balls by Mohamed Cook swung the pendulum in Purton’s favour as he and Elijah Samuel (44) put on 215 for the opening wicket.

That opening partnership put the game beyond Warminster, who slipped to their first league loss of the season after winning their opening 11 games.

Despite missing the game, Lee – who handed Tom Whittaker the captain’s armband – said the club owed a lot to Cook’s match-winning efforts.

“It was an absolutely unbelievable performance from the team, I was following the game from afar and I couldn’t quite believe the run chase,” said Lee.

“You can’t ask for more from a side than that.

“We owe a lot to Mohamed (Cook) for his knock with the bat. It was sensational from him to produce a performance like that.

“He’s probably one of the best players I’ve ever played with. His contributions have been very handy, and if we continue to make starts like this, it will become hard for teams to beat us.”

Cook and Samuel’s opening partnership set the rest of the innings up as three double figure middle-order knocks ensured Purton reached their target with five overs to spare.

The comfortable victory extended Purton’s gap to eighth-placed Corsham, who trail Lee’s side by 34 points.

But eyeing a spot in the top half of WEPL Wiltshire has to be a priority for Purton, according to Lee.

He said: “It’s an old saying in cricket, but building a foundation from the top is so important.

“When they do that, it allows the middle order to finish off the game, and that’s what happened on Saturday.

“Chasing 250 is tough, so to chase 270 against the unbeaten league leaders is a sensational effort from our boys.”

Elsewhere in WEPL Wiltshire, Swindon remain in the top half of the league after comfortably beating Marshfield at home by 65 runs, Chris Aubrey scoring 93 and skipper Alex Kill and Conor Taylor taking four wickets each.

Royal Wootton Bassett crashed to 113 all out when chasing Devizes’ target of 240, while in Prem Two Glos/Wilts, Lechlade suffered a 196-run loss against Cheltenham.