SWINDON maintained pressure on WEPL Wiltshire leaders Royal Wootton Bassett at the weekend following a six-wicket victory over Hinton Charterhouse.
The County Ground outfit had comfortably beaten their arch-rivals on home soil just days before to deny Bassett the title with a handful of games to spare.
And with the table-toppers not in action on Saturday, Swindon were presented with the chance to turn up the heat on Bassett and move within a handful of points in second.
It was an opportunity they duly took thanks, in the main, to an outstanding 114 not out from Jon Sore.
Hinton Charterhouse won the toss on their home ground and elected to bat first in gloomy conditions.
Only Adam Mapstone's 77 from 100 balls slowed Swindon's progress through the top order - Chris Allen doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.
But after Mapstone was dismissed and Henry Cheal (46) fell agonisingly short of his half-century, Hinton Charterhouse limped onto 259-8 from their 50 overs. Sam Wiles (3-46) and Connor O'Shea (2-37) took Swindon's other wickets.
In reply, Daniyal Rafiq (28) and Christy Millar (36) helped the visitors to a decent start before they were both dismissed by Cheal.
But if there were any nerves at two down, wicketkeeper Sore’s arrival helped to relax those on the batting side. Sore’s innings allowed Swindon to kick on and ultimately claim victory thanks to 18 fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 170.
After a strong bowling performance, Allen then played an integral part to Swindon’s win with the bat thanks to 53 runs coming off 58 balls prior to being bowled by Cheal.
Swindon rolled over the line in the 45th over to put all the pressure back on Bassett in the closing stages of the season.
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