Sat. 13th July. Division 4 Melksham 213-7 Wroughton 171 all out

Melksham 1st XI overturned their recent poor batting performances with a brilliant 42-run win over title challengers Wroughton Wranglers; Matt Hunt and Jack Footner the star men. 

On a hot day up at Melksham House, Melksham were boosted by the return of Matt Hunt who opened the batting with Chris Long. The opening bowlers for Wroughton bowled a consistently tidy line, with Melksham only being able to punish the occasional loose ball; scoring a steady 69 for no loss after 23 overs, before losing opening Chris Long for 18 in the next over.

Jack Footner then upped the run rate with two fours in his first five deliveries. Hunt meanwhile was now freely scoring runs; reaching the fifty milestone for the third time this season. 

The bowling had become more wayward, with Hunt and Footner regularly dispatching the ball to the boundary. The later soon smashed his way to his own 50 (from 52 balls) to push the score up to 160 for 1 off 37. Melksham eventually lost Hunt in the next over having scored a 90, with Jack Footner falling for 50 the very next over. 

This brought captain Joe Veacock and Tom Bew to the crease, hoping to maintain the run rate but Veacock could only manage 10 runs before being caught trying to play a big shot. It was a different story for Bew though who smashed his way to 31 from 12 balls, which included a couple of huge sixes before also being caught. Melksham were now 199 for 5 off 42 overs. 

The remaining batsmen were unable to make a notable contribution, but Veacock’s side were delighted to finish on a very defendable 213 for 7 from 45. 

Wroughton wasted no time and some big hitting saw them race to 35 for 0 from 10 overs, although opening bowlers Matt Lee and Chris Long were very unlucky not to pick up any wickets. Captain Joe Veacock brought himself into the attack, but he was smashed for 41 off just 4 overs. With Wroughton on 92 for 0 off 18 overs, youngster Freddie Honeybone dismissed big hitting McMeeking, thanks to a smart catch by Dan Watts with only his second ball.

In the next over, Gary Ings (2-33) found a thick edge and Jack Footner took a brilliant catch in the slips. The other opening batsman Williams soon fell to some more brilliant bowling from Freddie Honeybone (2-15), with wicket keeper Rich Bryant taking a smart catch behind the stumps. Taylor smashed his way to 33 from 37 balls before he was snared by Footner off the bowling of Veacock.  

With Wroughton now on 164 for 5 off 33 overs, the tail offered little resistance and was quickly mopped up; Footner leading the final charge – finishing with figures of 3-14 – to claim a vital win which sees them stay clear of the relegation places for now.  

Melksham 2s also enjoyed a fruitful weekend, claiming a 10-run victory during a brilliant contest against Devizes 3. Daniel Carpenter scored 75 as his side marched to 200-8; with Ryan Brown also making  34. Carpenter with 3-33 off 9 overs then helped his side edge out their opposition to maintain their place at the top of Division 9.