A RECORD sixth wicket partnership between Corsham pair Richard Foley and Steve Perrin steered an understrength Wiltshire to their first win of the season.

Perrin weighed in with 102 and Foley 67 not out on the final day, leaving the visitors needing to score 324 in 75 overs.

The comprehensive 237 run victorywas the first time Minor Counties cricket had been played at Trowbridge since the mid 1990s.

Foley, playing his first county game since 1997, said: "It was great but obviously we didn't realise we were setting a record at the time. We were just trying to set Cornwall a target of 300 runs and that was all we were thinking about.

"That came along and then afterwards we found out about the record which was a bonus.

"It was my return to the Wiltshire side after a seven year absence and it couldn't have gone any better.

"During our partnership I was just trying to support Steve because he's the main batsman. But I've played with him at Corsham which made it easier."

Wiltshire won the toss on Sunday and decided to bat first but they must have regretted that decision. Wickets tumbled at regular intervals and after only 18 overs they were 48-4 but then Foley joined Michael Coles .

They put together a partnership of 98 with Coles making a fine 68, including11 fours.

Foley struck five fours in his vital knock of 36. But it still needed another big partnership to take Wiltshire past the 200 mark. That came courtesy of Richard Bedbrook and Kevin Nash who put on 77 runs for the ninth wicket.

The former hit 64 which included eight fours while Nash weighed in with 23. Wiltshire were final all out for 251 in the 90th over.

In reply Cornwall stood on 56-2 after 12 overs at the end of day one.

But on day two of the match Wiltshire bounced back despite seeing Cornwall move onto 103-2 after only 27 overs.

Cornwall progressed to 170 for 2 but when an injury to Ben Price, then on 71, caused him to retire Wiltshire spinners Foley and Richard Bates took control.

They turned the game back in favour of Wiltshire when they collected a cluster of wickets before and after lunch.

Some fine bowling from Foley saw him bag four wickets for 52 runs and Chippenham's Bates also weighed in with three wickets for 60 runs.

The Cornish collapse was completed in the early afternoon as they were eventually dismissed for 231 after 69 overs, giving Wiltshire a 20-run lead.

Price returned to the crease after treatment and ended 85 not out.

Wiltshire started their second innings well with an opening stand of 50 between Ollie Smith (58) with his first half century for the county and Jon Chandler (21).

Wiltshire were reduced to 118 for 5 when Wiltshire then closed their second innings at the end of day two on 202-5 with Perrin hitting a half-century off 43 balls. Perrin was 57 not out at the close after a useful sixth wicket partnership with Foley.

On day three Perrin picked up where he left off and with Foley broke the record for Wiltshire's sixth wicket with a partnership of 173 to put them in control. Their blistering partnership boosted the home side, who declared on 303 for 8 leaving Cornwall a minimum of 75 overs to score 324 to win.

But the visitors got nowhere near the target and after lunch were bowled out for just 86 in 38 overs. Wiltshire picked up 22 points from the victory and Cornwall took six points.

Wiltshire manager Brian White said: "I felt it was an absolutely fantastic result. We were probably par for the course after the first innings. In saying that we looked like being 100 runs behind until their lad got injured.

"After that they folded like a stack of cards. Then when we batted sensibly until Steve Perrin came in with his century. Cornwall would have had to have played out of this world to reach the target but our bowling and catching was excellent and we finished it early."

Wiltshire's next match is in the Minor Counties Knockout Cup at Herefordshire. Neil Shardlow captains the side in Russell Rowe's absence and sees a Wiltshire debut for Corsham's Toby Sharpe and a first match this season for Kevin Blackburn.

Wiltshire: Neil Shardlow (Corsham), James Ashford-Brown (Devizes), Richard Bedbrook (Beckenham), Kevin Blackburn (Clifton/Optimists), Chris Budd (Thornbury), Jon Chandler (South Wilts) Paul Clifford (Corsham), Michael Coles (Bridgewater), Kevin Nash (Bashley), Baqar Rizvi (Spencer), Toby Sharpe (Corsham).

See this week's Gazette for photographs