PAUL Miller was in good form on Saturday as his knock of 86 helped Royston to a 91-run victory against Chesterfords.

Royston Crow: Martin Leary runs as his shot beats the fielderMartin Leary runs as his shot beats the fielder (Image: Archant)

The victory was all the more sweeter as prior to this game Chesterfords were unbeaten and sitting pretty at the top of the league.

Royston Crow: Mick Miller plays at a wide oneMick Miller plays at a wide one (Image: Archant)

Chesterfords’ opening bowling pair of Taylor and Lipscombe proved to be tricky to deal with however and early wickets fell in the form of Rory Harper and Martin Leary and then eventually Mick Miller, leaving Royston on 48-3.

Paul Leary and Paul Miller looked to rebuild though and aided by some looser change bowling, runs began to flow. With the score on 71, Leary (16) edged behind off the bowling of Thake, which signalled the arrival of skipper Harris, who joined Miller in the middle.

The pair scored freely and soon Royston were in a dominant position, with wickets in hand approaching the final 10 overs. Harris, who appeared to have returned to form somewhat, was eventually caught on the boundary for a well made 23, and with the score on 131-5, himself and Miller having clocked up a valuable 60 runs for the fifth wicket.

Paul Miller continued on in style and sailed past his half-century, his sixth of the season in the league.

Richard Temple at the other end maintained a good scoring rate and supported Miller excellently, until Miller was finally caught at long off for a superb 86, with the Royston total on 172.

Some late hitting from Temple (20), as well as Jon Harper and Josh Holmes, saw the Royston total move up to 189-8 in their 40 overs.

The Chesterfords reply got off to a slow start as Richard Temple struck early, dismissing Perring with the score on 19, however Lipscombe and Thake remained positive and batted well to pick up the run rate.

With the score on 57-1 Martin Leary managed to dismiss the dangerous looking Lipscombe, bowling him for 29.

This wicket seemed to expose an end and Matt Gillham was quick to exploit this, as he came into the attack and bowled with great accuracy in order to dismiss Laird, Phillips and the Thake, all in quick succession, reducing Chesterfords to 69-5 in the space of a few overs.

With The Crows on top, Paul Miller could not be kept out of the action as he bagged himself a run out with a fine direct hit.

Jon Harper was introduced to clean up the lower order and he bowled in his usual metronomic manner to claim a further two wickets.

Gillham, at the other end, claimed another wicket and ended with excellent figures of 4-16 as Chesterfords were bowled out for only 98, handing Royston a 91-run victory.