CHIPPENHAM skipper Paul Bates is counting the cost of his side’s loss to Westbury on Saturday.

A fifth defeat of the season saw Bates’ men slip to third-bottom in the Premier Two table, with sides from the bottom-half of the table all winning, but the Chippenham captain is targetting three more wins to guarantee his side’s place in the division.

“It shows just how tight the league is because we’re only four points from second-bottom and 16 from third,” he said.

“I think we probably need three more wins and we’ll be safe this year.

“We didn’t play well against Westbury and weren’t good enough when we were batting or bowling.

“One of their guys (Westbury captain Joe Breet) batted really well and we didn’t do enough to get him out – it’s up to us to make up for it next week.”

Chippenham won the toss, but chose to bowl first, with the Westbury skipper hitting an unbeaten 119 from 134 balls.

Matt Davies-Binge made 48 while Richard Mills added 32 for the visitors, as they posted 247-5.

Trevor Lloyd led a late fightback for Chippenham with an unbeaten 47.

Uzi Qureshi and skipper Bates had already notched up scores of 38 and 32 respectively, with Hampshire youngster James Vince also making 30, but the hosts fell short by 35 runs.

Joe Weare took three wickets as Chippenham finished on 212-8.

Bates’ side will look to bounce back when they host Ilminster this weekend.