SWINDON made light work of the wet weather and opponents Marlborough to keep up their strong run of form in WEPL Wiltshire.

For the first time this summer, rain disrupted the weekend’s cricket fixtures – although there was no stopping Alex Kill’s side as they made it six wins from their last eight matches.

Swindon’s bowlers ensured the contest was over in double quick time by skittling home side Marlborough for just 85, meaning any threat posed by the weather was minimal as they cruised to a six-wicket success.

Skipper Kill said: “We were very fortunate not to be heavily affected by all the rain around.

“We only had one five-minute shower hit us, which was very fortunate, so we didn’t have any issues. We have seen that a lot of other games in our league and around the area weren’t so lucky.

“We took full advantage of a good bowling pitch and managed to take plenty of early wickets for not many runs. That really turned the game in our favour early on.

“Although we were only chasing a low total, we knew it wasn’t going to be straightforward, but we were pleased to get over the line without too much drama.”

Conor Taylor led the Swindon attack, taking 4-15 as the Marlborough innings lasted just 26 overs. Tom Codling also chipped in with 3-21 as only two home batsmen reached double figures, with their top score even coming by the way of 32 extras.

Three of Swindon’s top five fell for single figures as the reply got off to a tricky start in the face of good bowling from David West (3-33).

However, Marlborough were always likely to be up against it to deny their visitors, and Kill’s troops got over the winning line in the 17th over, finishing on 89-4.

Kill added: “We were surprised to be asked to bowl first when we lost the toss. The pitch was one of the tougher pitches to bat on that we’ve had all year, so we would have liked to have had a bowl and seen what it was going to play like.

“Tom Codling bowled a great early spell, taking three wickets out of the top four batsmen. He set the tone for the innings well.

“Conor Taylor also bowled a very aggressive spell, attacking the stumps and killing off any opportunity of a lower-order partnership developing

“It was a pretty dominant win, which will hopefully give us a good platform going into next week.”

Purton took the bragging rights in the derby at home to Royal Wootton Bassett, winning by 10 wickets chasing a rain-reduced target.

Bassett were bowled out for just 138 despite choosing to bat first, with Purton skipper Aaron Lee (4-32) leading the charge with the ball.

That target was revised to 88 from 22 overs after rain had interrupted play, but a brilliant unbeaten opening stand between Elijah Samuel (41 not out) and Mohammed Cook (37 not out) meant Purton needed less than 10 overs to get home.

Elsewhere, Lechlade’s hopes of a third victory in Premier Two Glos/Wilts this season were hit when their match away at Dumbleton was washed out midway through the first innings.