The 2nd XI welcomed Purton 2s to the Savernake Forest Ground for a key clash in the Division 4 promotion race. Marlborough captain Nick Crabbe won the toss and elected to bat under sunny skies. Opening pair Nick and Andy Crabbe made a commanding start, offering up no chances to the fielding side early on and finding the boundary regularly. The run rate ticked along nicely at 4 an over until the 81 run partnership was broken by Hardayn Lall, Andy Crabbe (34) well caught on the boundary by Adiytha Kiran. Marlborough number 3 Peter Day joined Nick Crabbe and quickly settled, both batsmen scoring all around the ground. With the Purton attack increasingly frustrated, Crabbe and Day dominated, putting on 100 runs in 15 overs before Crabbe was caught by Pavel Sahota off the bowling of Jamie Richards for a well made 81. Hassaan Asif added a quick 29 in 5 overs before being caught and bowled by Richards. With only 2 overs left, Zach Collister looked for quick runs and was unlucky to fall to an excellent catch from Tayler Aitkin off the bowling of Cole Crumbie – an extra bowling point offering a crumb of comfort for the visitors. However they had no answer to the class of Day, who hit 12 fours and a six on his way to 85 not out, passing 8,000 club runs in the process! Savin Bamunugama came in for his 2nd XI debut in the final over and scored the 4 runs required to see Marlborough to the 250 mark.

Purton openers Pavel Sahota and Callum Flay looked to play positively from the outset, but Marlborough made an early breakthrough, with Sahota bowled by Asif in the 3rd over. Adithya Kiran offered good support for Flay, who was finding the boundary regularly, and it took the brilliance of Ben Head in the 11th over for the second wicket to fall, bowling Kiran (3) with his first ball. At the other end, Muhammed Salman had begun a controlled spell and was rewarded with the wicket of William Carter (5), Zach Collister claiming an excellent catch at mid-wicket. 7 balls later Head had his second wicket, Tayler Aitkin bowled for 1 playing a daft swipe across the line, leaving Purton 68-4 from 14.2 overs. Purton captain Phil Duffel joined Flay and the pair looked to consolidate, adding 38 runs in a sensible partnership, before Head trapped Duffel LBW for 25 in his final over. Head finished with figures of 9-3-12-3 and with 18 overs remaining, the required run rate had rocketed to 8 runs per over. Zach Collister and Simon Wells bowled well in tandem with each other, Collister dismissing Josh Flay with a snorter, caught behind by Dave Curtis-Slater for 9, and wily veteran Wells out-thinking Patrick Doyle (1), who spooned one up to Day at mid off. At 7 wickets down and with the runs required out of reach, Purton gave up the chase and instead tried to keep wickets in hand and deny Marlborough further bowling points. However, Asif bowled Jamie Richards with the first ball of his second spell which earned the home side a fourth but ultimately final bowling point. Purton crawled to 180-8 from their 45 overs, with Flay scoring an excellent 97 not out. But the day belonged to Marlborough, winning comprehensively by 80 runs, a seventh win in a row.