Cricket: A fine all-round individual display from Paul Clifford was not enough to drive Chippenham to victory as they suffered due to a lack of urgency with the bat.

Keynsham lost early wickets before a slight recovery allowed them to set a moderate target of 161, which should have been well within the visitors’ reach.

However, their reply started slowly and they failed to pick up the necessary momentum in time before missing out on victory by an agonising three runs.

“I was speaking to their captain after the game and he agreed we were the better side for 80 or 90 per cent of the game,” said Chippenham captain Steve Silk. “But sadly we let ourselves down with the bat.

“We lost it between the 15th and 40th over when we didn’t score quickly enough and put ourselves under pressure.

“There was bad shot selection and considering we were chasing a small total we didn’t apply ourselves properly and wasted a large amount of overs. It wasn’t a clever batting performance.”

The day started brightly for Chippenham when opener Clifton Folkes took three early wickets to leave the hosts reeling on 26-3.

Ian Payter (44) and Keynsham captain Richard Pannell (24) steadied the ship until Clifford struck to finish with figures of 3-25.

Chippenham suffered in reply when several of their batsmen played themselves in, such as Silk’s 57-ball 13 and Tim Rowson’s 30-ball seven, but failed to go on to make a match-winning score.

Paul Bates (30) and Clifford (27) nearly rescued the innings at the death with a 43 run partnership but the side fell short of the 12 runs needed from the final 18 balls.

“The worst thing is when people make a start and use up overs, myself included, but then get out,” said Silk. “As that puts pressure on the people coming in after you.

“We kept wickets in hand rather than pushing on and that proved to be a flawed strategy.

“Our bowling and fielding was exceptional though.

“Their captain said we have by far the best bowling attack in the league.”

Chippenham host Taunton Deane on Saturday and Silk feels a victory is a must after two disappointing defeats.

“It’s interesting seeing the results as everybody is beating everybody at the moment,” he said.

“Taunton Deane is a tough fixture but one we are looking to win.”