WILTSHIRE'S second Unicorns Championship match ended in disappointment as they slumped to a 176 run defeat before lunch on the third day against Berkshire.

It was a dramatic turnaround for the visitors who were in deep trouble at 11-3 on Sunday after winning the toss at Corsham.

Yet aided by some dropped catches they recovered to 273 all out with James Morris scoring 80 and Chris Peploe 59. For Wiltshire Tahir Afridi took 4 for 52, Ed Young 3 for 47 and Joe King 2 for 56. In reply by close of the first day Wiltshire had reached 107 for 4 wickets.

The first hour of the 2nd day saw Berkshire take control as Wiltshire collapsed in dramatic fashion to 120 for 9 finally being all out for 150 giving Berkshire a first innings lead of 123. Luke De Sousa scored 28, Michael Coles 39 and Tahir Afridi 22 not out, Tom Nugent took 5 for 52 and Matt Carter 4 for 38. Berkshire increased their lead with a quick opening partnership of 69 before they lost 9 wickets for 108. Then they recovered with a 10th wicket partnership of 82 between Tom Nugent (70 not out) and A A Raja (8) before they were all out for 259 — setting a target of 383 to win in a day and a session.

By close of the 2nd day they had reached 48 for the loss of Luke De Sousa (23) off the last ball of the day. The 3rd day saw Wiltshire's batting again fail when they were all out for 206. Mike Reynolds scored 37 and there was a last wicket stand of 60 between Andy Carroll (33) and Joe King (23 not out). Chris Peploe took 4 for 66 and there were 2 wickets each for Tom Nugent and Matt Carter.