Wroughton put to the sword

Saturday. 6th August. Melksham 322/6 Wroughton Wranglers 73/all out. Melksham won by 249 runs.

SKIPPER Adam Mitchell’s second double-ton of the season helped the 1st XI cruise to a comprehensive 249-run win over Wroughton Wranglers at the weekend, in the process helping his side seize top spot in the Division 4 table.    

The skipper dominated proceedings during the 1st innings, with his innings, along with a fifty from fellow opener Chay Forester, helping Melksham rack up a colossal score of 322-6. The 2nd innings proved to be a formality for the home side, with Chris Singh leading the way with 3 wickets, as Melksham bowled a depleted Wroughton out for just 73. 

The match got off to a fast start after Mitchell won the toss and elected to bat first. He and Forester wasted little time pilling on the runs during the early stages of the innings, with the pairing pushing Melksham to a score of 88 for no loss after 15 overs. Wroughton then got a much-needed breakthrough wicket of Forester in the following over for 55. 

Things then briefly looked up for the visitors when they claimed multiple cheap wickets, with Russ Collins (6), Mark Wiltshire (2), and Simon Turner (1) all dismissed, having barely troubled the scorers, to leave Melksham in the somewhat precarious position of 123-4 off 22.   

Thankfully, Mitchell ensured that this would be a false dawn for Wroughton. He utterly dominated proceedings for the rest of the innings, dispatching the bowling with ease as he hammered his way to a mammoth score of 208 not out by the close of the play. Lewie Simmons (18) and Singh (14) also chipped in for Melksham, pushing the side to a score which seemingly guaranteed victory for the hosts before a 2nd innings ball was bowled. 

Opening bowlers Rich Hemmings and Liam Merrett quickly confirmed that this was indeed the case. Both picked up a wicket each inside the first 4 overs which, along with a run-out from Wiltshire, reduced Wroughton to a score of 12-3. Although the visitors’ 4th wicket pairing did delay the inevitable for a short while with a partnership of 39, it wouldn’t be long before Melksham had indeed wrapped up a comprehensive win with plenty of time to spare. 

Both Hemmings (2-30) and Merrett (2-28) picked up a second wicket towards the end of their spells, before Singh (3-4) and Martha Honeybone (1-6) mopped up the tail to cap off the win.