Bucks Women put in an impressive performance to defeat Wiltshire at Swindon CC to move up to third place in the Metro Bank League 3 Division 1 table.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Bucks did not get the start they were hoping for, falling quickly to 53/5 a third of the way into the innings.

Following the fifth wicket, Annie Townsend joined skipper Cara Duggan at the crease, and the rebuild was underway. Duggan, steadying the ship, and Townsend, picking her moments to send the ball to the ropes, put together a 53-run partnership before Duggan was dismissed.

Caia Stockdale (1) was the next to fall, but Townsend did not falter, carrying on scoring alongside Sky Springett. The pair compiled a crucial 68-run partnership until Townsend’s superb run-a-ball knock came to an end on 80.

Springett (30) took her side beyond 200 runs, which seemed an unlikely total after an early flurry of wickets, before being stumped in the 44th over.

The battling partnerships did not stop there, as Natasha MacBean (7*) and Megs Woodward (18) shared a 20-run 10th-wicket stand, and Bucks Women finished on 223.

Chasing 224 to win, Wiltshire faced a dream start from Bucks, with Charlie Mailey running out opener Lauren Adams (0) in the second over.

Mailey was back in the action for the second wicket, having Flo Sharman (7) caught by Duggan.

MacBean was next to strike for Bucks and, as ever, her economical bowling built pressure before earning the wicket of Isla Thomson (7), caught by Springett.

Wickets kept falling for Wiltshire: Amelia Ridgway trapped Katherine Mills (24) lbw, and MacBean picked up her second, dismissing Emma Godman (7) — leaving Wiltshire in the identical position of 53/5.

Emily Smith (5) was the next to go, run out after a sharp piece of fielding from Duggan. With pressure mounting on the hosts, Tegan Stockdale joined the party, dismissing Carys Shah (19) lbw.

Stockdale’s ruthless spell continued, removing both Cerys Griffiths (1) and Niamh Mansel (4) caught behind by Rosie Burton-Pye.

With just one wicket needed, Mailey returned to the attack and used her pace to clean bowl Sophie Gaiger (2), sealing an emphatic 97-run victory for Bucks Women.

Captain Cara Duggan shared her angle on a brilliant win: Getting the win against Wiltshire at the weekend was amazing. I'm so immensely proud of all the girls, who all contributed  batting, bowling and fielding.

We started the day by winning the toss and electing to bat. The pitch looked good for batting first, we thought it might rough up later on, so batting first was the choice for us. However there was definitely things in there for bowlers so knew we had to dig deep and play well.

Our openers Molly and Amelia looked good first up, back up by Rosie, but following a few quick wickets Annie and I at number 6 and 7 had to rebuild. Annie absolutely smashed it, finding the boundary with ease and running hard, she built a superb platform for our girls, supported by Sky and Megs later down the line. We reached 223 before the 10th wicket falling in the 47th over but a fabulous effort by all.

We felt we had a good platform going into fielding, and as a strong bowling and fielding side, we backed ourselves and each other, taking wickets at crucial points, not allowing for any major partnerships to be built. The fielding was a different level, and with those like Caia and molly racing around the boundary, we saved runs, stalled the chase, and came off with a well deserved win, with brilliant bowling from Tash, Amelia and Tegan, backed up by Charlie with some breakthrough moments and the final wicket.

Everyone deserves a mention, Annie's innings set us up for success, with all the girls backing us up in the field! It was so good to show Wiltshire that we absolutely can come back to fight after the close final at Wormsley. The win has been put up there with some of our best performances, and placed us joint second in the table. We're excited to get going again, and prove what we can do, with everyone smashing it!